Filipino Does Not Want my Business

My friend tried to buy a 100 pesos load from this little kiosk inside Greenbelt One, and she turned him down because my friend only had a 500 peso bill. She told him that she did not have change.

My friend asked if she could double check her change, and soon enough, there were four 100 peso bills and some other loose change.

To make a long story short, the girl inside this kiosk said that she was holding that change for the next customers.

What the frick? Holding the change for the next customers? I have never heard of such a thing. Actually, I lied. I have heard of it before. And it was in the Philippines again. The 7-Eleven on Paseo de Roxas corner Dela Rosa. What the hell? Is this the way Filipinos do business?

It happened to me twice. So it's gotta worth blogging, right? Who taught these people that this was proper business practice, holding the change for the next few customers? What if the next 1000 customers had 500 peso bills? Will she keep holding it till someone has a 200 peso bill? Mind you, we don't stink. I'm not the ugliest person in the world. I shower everyday. My clothes are decent. They're washed. I don't think it was me or my friend. This has got to be a Filipino mentality! Right? Or am I just seeing things?

Anyway, I decided to take a picture of this little kiosk, since I had my camera with me. Now, I'm inspired to take pictures of "silly people" and "silly things." and blog about them too. Adds flavors to my stories. Like they say, photos tell a million words. Something like that. So in a way, she inspired me. Ha ha.

My recommendation: take care of the customers right in front of you, and worry about the next customers later. What if you had a patient dying in the hospital. Well, let's save this medicine for our next patients. This is too much for this patient. OK, I know this is a far fetched analogy. Maybe not.

Back from the Dead

I am back from the dead. I am here in the Philippines now, and in the last month and a half, I could not write about my experiences here in the Philippines. I mean, while I was in the US, I was able to reflect on what life was like in the Philippines.

But now that I live here, for some odd reasons, I cannot spill a word. I am frozen. Maybe I am discombobulated by all the things that I am seeing here. I have had so many experiences that make me wanna tear my hair out. But I've also enjoyed so many things. I must say, I love this country more than I despise it. I know there can be a change.

Why did I ever major in Political Science? I am so critical of the government of the Philippines. Inefficienct to the max. If you were to have a relay race between the fastest government employee versus my four grandparents, who are still alive thank God, my grandparents would win by a mile. Slow government. Corrupt government. How much money do you want from me before you start to make things more expedient? Shame on you.

OK, enough ranting.