By Eddlynn Jennifer Mangaoang
Please do not repost or copy to another site. Thank you. Enjoy Reading.
1) Traffic
2) Filipino Time
3) Fast-food Etiquette
Before migrating to California almost ten years ago, I grew up in a province called Pangasinan. Where I lived, the traffic is caused by a slow water buffalo or a kuliglig (the transportation, not the insect). Our barrio is lively, but there is serenity with living near the wild animals (toads and insects, chickens, and goats, and more) and greens. There are many greens surrounding us – tall bamboo trees, acacia trees, banana trees... we even have mango trees and tamarind trees. Our backyard is a rice field, but farmers also plant tobacco and vegetables.
Our barrio is a beautiful place. While standing in the middle of the field during summer, the wind is calm, cool, and breezy. The sky is so wide, blue, and clear, and the clouds are crawling white cotton candy. Some birds will also take a big V-form while flying, and it is incredibly beautiful. At night, stars litter the dark blue sky and airplanes are so far away, but you can clearly see them blinking.
Maybe because I lived in such a place where time drags on, yet things are done, I never experienced a fast-paced, busy city life back in the Philippines.
Traffic
I am a probinsyana (from the province). The barrio where I live has one street (road) that does not have a clear dividing line. People will sit on its edges while taking a break or having a chat. There is a part where it will fork once in daya (east), but I’m not too sure in laod (la-ud; west). Not a lot of people have private transportation and the most convenient for those who have one is a motorcycle wave, especially for teenagers and young adults. However, there is no driving class or driving test to pass to receive a driver’s license, so it is questionable whether these people who drive waves are legal to drive. Accidents caused by reckless driving might be one of the reasons for traffic, but it is rare in our barrio.
Traffic is heavier during weekends when families are out for Sunday Mass and malls. My family goes to church weekly and goes to the nearest malls in Urdaneta City. The city is very traffic and there are jeepneys or tricycles suddenly appearing from a corner, but it is not that bad, and my parents are so good at finding all these amazing uncrowded routes that we avoid traffic most of the time.
For the foreigners – it is because they usually stay in the bigger cities like the National Capital Region (NCR). Most foreigners come to the Philippines for its tourism and will want to see beautiful nature, so they will flood the provinces that have all these famous water and beaches or falls – like Boracay, Palawan, Davao, Cebu, Baguio – these well-known tourist spots. They are so well-known that there might be traffic going there, but there is beauty in the provinces’ nature that only locals know, and if few people know about them, only those who are given privy can enjoy them – and there is no heavy traffic going there.
Filipino Time
Readers might be confused as to what Filipino Time is – and I was the same when I repeatedly watch Filipinos and foreigners alike mention it as one of their culture shocks. Filipino Time is Filipinos’ late arrival or lateness during an event or appointment. The exaggerated ones I have watched on YouTube are arriving the next day after a party is over the night before. One of the reasons given for such attitude/ behavior is the traffic, and it is understandable because people know how bad traffic is in the Philippine capital and other bigger cities. Another reason is waking up late – but that’s also a good excuse. What I do not understand is why this becomes a standard with some Filipinos. Personally, I dislike lateness, especially when there is no real reason or acceptable excuse.
This is a matter of how my parents taught my sibling and me when it comes to time - “The earlier you go, the earlier you leave.” Also, I remember standing in the covered boulevard with my stroller school bag during the flag ceremony while everyone is in the quad singing Lupang Hinirang. The whole school knows I am late and that is so humiliating. But going back to the statement above, even when my parents have a set appointment, they will arrive fifteen to thirty minutes before their appointed time, and I guess I inherited that behavior because even though it’s an online class, I will be on Zoom ten minutes before the class time. My professor once commented that I’m always early – and yes, I am always earlier than my professors.
If I know I promised myself and my time to another, I will make sure I do not make them wait. If there are circumstances that act as a barrier between that person and me, I will make sure I arrive as early as I possibly can, tell them my circumstances, and update them where I am and how long they might need to wait. There are three things I prepare for whenever I have an appointment: 1) GPS, 2) alarm clock, 3) traffic, parking spaces, and looking for the right place.
I will set up the GPS on my phone the day before. I will look for the best route, then save it on my phone’s home screen for easier access. Depending on my preparation speed, the distance, and the deduced
traffic, I will set an alarm I can work with. Also, I must make sure I have time to look for parking spaces and some time to look for the room - I was almost late for my endocrinologist’s appointment because I could not find his office’s room inside the hospital, and I did not have anyone to talk to because the lobby was empty. Thankfully, I have the time window dedicated just for that.
I cannot give an excuse for Filipino Time, but it is one of the Filipino sub-cultures I am not part of.
Fast-food Etiquette
This triggers me the most. I am not sure why some Filipinos cannot throw their garbage in the trashcan when they go to fast-food restaurants. Foreigners mention this all the time and I feel awkward and uncomfortable with them. One YouTube video (from a foreigner) mentions this excuse: there are servers and it’s their job to clean after. I must close my eyes and breathe slowly because it triggers me. It is one of the behaviors Filipinos should leave behind. It screams entitlement. I am not saying all Filipinos are this way, but because it keeps popping up in culture shocks videos, I am just so through with it. I understand if it is a high-end, classy, super elegant, and rich restaurant, but a fast-food chain? Nuh-uh.
In our family, going to the mall also means eating out in food courts or fast-food restaurants. For fast-food restaurants, the server will sometimes bring our order to us, but it is mostly us who pick them up from the counter. It is usually our father who goes when they call our number, while my sister and I will go to the restroom to wash our hands, and our mother will look out for our things. Every single time, after we finish eating, my sister and I will stack the used paper/Styrofoam plates, gather all the utensils, and put them on the stacked cups, then pile up the trays. Not only that, but we will also gather all used napkins (Tissues. We call them tissues) and place them on the tray. Sometimes we even use clean napkins to wipe our table. We will look at our seats and below the table to make sure it’s clean, then throw everything in the trashcan. Most trashcans in the food courts or the fast-food restaurants are big – they have this rectangular mouth and a surface counter above where customers can put their trays. One cannot make a mistake throwing their own garbage – unless it is a naturally clumsy person. There is no reason a person or a group of people cannot throw their trash or clean after themselves.
I am very triggered because this behavior is painting Filipinos as lazy and unclean – and entitled – people, and I know not all Filipinos are that way. I just wish foreigners meet these people instead.
Cheap Prices
Cheap for foreigners, expensive for Filipinos. I hope foreigners stop saying that Philippine products are cheap. I know it is amazingly easy to say, and it’s true from a foreigner’s point of view, but Filipinos who do not have anything will tell a foreigner that he or she is wrong.
Ten years ago, less than two U.S. dollars will pay for one lunch and several snacks. Lunch... what I mean for lunch is one cup of rice, one main dish, and a side dish – usually a clear soup - for twenty-five to thirty Philippine pesos. Snacks vary from chopped fruits to fishball, kikyam, hotdogs, nuts, ice cream, and so on for recesses (2; one in the morning and one in the afternoon). For less than three U.S. dollars, you can buy one Jollibee Chickenjoy with a cup of rice (about 99 to 100 PH pesos if I remember correctly). One 8 ounces of soda – Royal, Pepsi, Coke, etc. - is around 10 to 12 PH pesos: about 20 U.S. cents. It is RIDICULOUSLY cheap... but if you are someone who grew up watching the prices of soda increasing from 5 PH pesos to 10-12 PH pesos, you will think, “Ahhh, it’s becoming expensive.” And those are just non-nutritious food, what about the nutritious food?
The prices for vegetables, fruits, and meat are expensive in the Philippines. I think 1 kilogram of beef can cost all the way from PHP320 (US$ 6.52) to PHP360 (US$7.33) (1). Also, since 2019, there are swine flu going around regions and provinces of the Philippines ravaging pig pens and striking the hog industry (2), and affecting the economy. Also, because of the stormy weather during the rainy season in the Philippines, field crops are also affected. There is clearly food insecurity in the country. Imagine those who do not have any job at all – how are they living?
It is quite easy for foreigners to speak about the cheapness or inexpensiveness of the Philippine products, but hopefully, foreigners can also recognize that some of the country’s people cannot afford those “cheap products,” and maybe have the kindness to use their money to share – because a “cheap” burger can feed thousands.
People have similarities and differences. Two people may grow up in the same country, but they can have diverse cultures. I realize that some Filipino cultures/sub-cultures do not apply to me, and I hope that other Filipinos might not think badly of me for speaking out my opinions that seem against Filipino “culture.” The Philippines is a country with mixtures of people from diverse levels of society, and as someone who has not traveled from the northernmost tip to the southernmost one and has not experienced a whole new adventure from interacting with other Pinoys and Pinays, I should not be talking like I’m an expert, but I also hope that Filipinos/Filipinas and foreigners alike can consider my words and think about them carefully.
Disclaimer: Prices are found online. The average hourly wage in the Philippines is PHP260 (3). This is the minimum hourly wage.
References
(1) Magkano.com: Meat & Poultry Prices (2020). http://magkano.com/market/meat_poultry_price.htm
(2) Idrus, P. G. (2021) the Philippines declares state of calamity over African swine fever. Anadolu Agency. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/philippines-declares-state-of-calamity-over-african-swine-fever/2237006
(3) Average Salary in the Philippines 2021” Average Hourly Wage in Philippines. http://www.salaryexplorer.com/salary- survey.php?loc=171&loctype=1#:~:text=The%20average%20hourly%20wage%20(pay,PHP%20for%20ev ery%20worked%20hour.
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