Seniors, smile or run

Egay Uy .

I HAVE written about the privileges extended to senior citizens in previous columns. There were negative and positive incidents and most of my observations were on the compliance with the priority lane requirement.

Lest I be accused of merely finding faults, there are also business establishments that perform more efficiently than the others and I felt obligated to write about them, based on my personal experiences.  Let me just mention those that I can recall off the shoulder so you have to excuse me if my memory fails me.

For utilities such as water, power and telecommunications, almost all offices of these companies have their own priority lanes. The problem is that the seniors often converge in limited number of lanes such that queueing in priority lanes often times also inconvenience the seniors. The term “senior” is used here to include pregnant women, differently-able persons, and those who are similarly situated.

Cepalco has at least two priority lanes for seniors. When the queue gets longer, another teller’s counter is opened. That makes the queueing more convenient and the services extended faster.

The same is true at the COWD, although I have noted in my monthly visit to Corrales Avenue that at most only two counters were opened. There was even one time that had I queued in the regular lanes, I would have been served much ahead.

To avoid these queues, I now pay my electric and water bills at SM City although I have to pay an extra P5 per bill paid. I do not mind that extra charge because probably my waiting time in the main offices of the power and water companies are worth more than P10 total. And I pay my bills after office hours, too.

While there, I pay my Globe subscriptions in that mall. The Globe procedure is for the senior to present his senior ID to the guard who will in turn give it to the teller. The latter then calls the senior after the she is done serving the current customer.  That’s good enough for me because I don’t have to wait long so I get to rest my feet that bring me to other “places of interest” inside the mall.

Let’s go to the grocery stores and supermarkets in malls. Rustan’s in Centrio has one priority lane.  Gaisano Supermarket in the GMall has at least two. Shopwise has one. Savemore outlets have one each. SM Uptown and Downtown have one each. Ororama has at least two, one in the new building extension and at two in the old.  Each of Robinson’s in LKKS has one.

Oftentimes, these priority lanes do not have long queues so waiting for a senior’s turn will take only a few minutes. Dili kaayo mosakit ang tiil sa sige tindug ug hulat.

Most fast-food chains have one, except at least one at LKKS. This is the one I reported in an earlier column.

My suggestion therefore to senior citizens is:  show your senior citizen ID to the cashier if there are no priority lanes. If the younger person (not senior) behind you complains, you can turn around, and with a smile, politely tell him or her, “Manghinaut lang ko nga moabot ang panahon nga ma senior citizen ka kay ako segurado na man nga niabot sa senior nga edad.”

Just don’t forget to smile.  Otherwise, you have to run fast, very fast.

(Lawyer Egay Uy is with city hall’s price coordinating council and the Regulatory and Complaints Board.)