Forms of precipitation

As a daily passenger of the overhead trains (the LRT and MRT, that is), I know the usual hazards: cramped conditions, overworked aircon, pickpockets, people stepping on your toes, you stepping on other people's toes, crushed luggage, crumpled clothes, soiled shoes, the occasional staredowns, jawing matches, angry talk that almost always lead to nothing but ruin your day anyway.

And then there's rain. In the old days, when there was only one LRT, the train cars were not airconditioned, the windows were open, which let in fresh air. Unfortunately, this also let in rain during the wet season.

Then somebody thought about airconditioning the rail network, so aircon systems were retrofitted to the old Belgian made trains, while the 2nd generation trains, from Korea, already came in with airconditioning. For the most part, aircon was good, you didn't have to wait for the train to start moving (and the stale air to get replenished by air from outside) to feel "presko". That is, until the aircons conk out, and you all feel the heat. When the 1st generation trains were retrofitted with aircons, the gaps in the body were all patched up, so when the aircon failed, opening the windows did little to improve comfort; with those "holes" in the body blocked, the natural airflow back in the pre-aircon days was gone. The 2nd generation trains are probably the worst (there are now 3 generations of trains in LRT1) because their aircons are always failing, and even with windows open, they have no airflow of any sort.

Aircon also brought new types of precipitation to deal with.

Ceiling drip or "LRT rain" - this is the water vapor from our collective breaths that condenses on the ceiling of the train, especially on the rim/edge of the aircon vents, then as it accumulates, begins dripping on some poor passenger's scalp, or arm or pant leg. It's very annoying, and the automatic reaction of passengers is one of disgust. The trains are quite dirty, accumulated dust on the aircon vents is visible, and that dust gets absorbed by the droplets. And then there are those people who think the water is from saliva.

LRT fog - if you're an eyeglass wearer (see my "Salamin" post), you are familiar with this. In wet weather, as you disembark from the cold train, the moisture in the air suddenly condenses on your eyeglass lenses, and you can't see anything. Before you know it, somebody's bumped into you. Quick reaction, remove glasses, wipe lenses, replace glasses.

LRT dew - now, this is something to really think about. You're in the LRT, you're standing, and after say a handful station stops, some seated passenger in front of you or near you stands up, and gets off the train. You react quickly, you take the seat, you actually pretend not seeing a "lady" who also wanted the seat. Your feet hurt, you're a bit sleepy, and it's better sleeping while seated than standing up, so you're taking this seat! Now, if you've been observing, you would have seen that at the spot where the passenger had previously sat, there's a long patch of "dew" that seemed to have come from nowhere, and now you're sitting on it.
Now LRT and MRT seats are plastic and do not absorb moisture. The "dew" that you just sat on is water vapor that had come from the previous passenger's butt and had condensed on the seat. You're sitting on ass sweat. And you are able to observe this (assuming you waited before sitting) only because LRT seats do not absorb the moisture right away. The thing is, "LRT dew" is not exclusive to the LRT, it's everywhere people sit. Imagine the amount of unseen ass sweat on padded bus, taxi or FX seats! Or movie house seats, where people sit for long periods of time!
Now, you also know that out of force of habit, a lot of Filipino people slap or tap the seat before sitting on it. The superstition is, they're driving away the body heat of the previous sitter, so they will not catch his/her "alimuom". Do they know they're slapping ass sweat?
I hate my curiousity sometimes. I see everything, well, almost everything. And I shouldn't. Some things are better not seen.