As many of you know the Filipinos are known for their kindness and generosity. I must say that the stereotype definitely holds true. Just today some random women, whom I could barely understand, took me by the hand in the grocery store to show me a "buy one get one" offer on Florida Orange Juice. She thought I'd like it because I looked "USA". People are always going out of their way to make us feel at home here, especially when Rosemary's around.
There is one instance, however, where the stereotype does not seem to hold...when it comes to lines. I know that I come with a cultural bias based on orderliness and a 'wait your turn' mentality, but the line situation here is ridiculous.
Lines are inevitable in the Philippines. When you consider that there are 300 people per acre here as opposed to 3 per acre in the states, you come to expect to wait in a line everywhere. Whether it be driving, getting beer, grocery shopping, ATM usage, or picking up a prescription at the pharmacy, lines are just a way of life here. You would think, as such, that a line would have some meaning, but low and behold it does not.
Let me give you a few examples: First, just the other day I had to run to the pharmacy to pick up some decongestant for Anna. It was after school, during rush, but the pharmacy is only a couple of kilometers down the road. Well, at one point traffic merges to go around a guard station which protects nothing in particular. There's a clear line of traffic waiting to go around the guard station, but on the left passes Jeepneys and a few private vehicles. When it come to be my turn to enter the diversion, I say to myself, "There's no way in hell I'm letting someone over." I continue as normal and then some guy in a white Toyota SUV pulls right next to me and basically nudges me over to get in in front of me. If I wouldn't have slowed, I know there would have been at least a mirror missing. Upon arriving at the pharmacy, I see a customer complete a transaction so I occupy his place at the counter. I'm flanked by two other sickos waiting for some drugs. Before the pharmacist turns around to help me some mad woman shoves 3 pills of something in his face, as if I didn't exist. This proceeded to happen two more times before I was able to fill my prescription.
My final anecdote happened at PureGold (see prior posts to learn about my PureGold love affair). Again, I had a cart full of alcohol, as that's all I really get there, and I was ready to check out. I found the shortest line and was excited to make this a quick trip. Then my lane closes, but I was saved. A worker was escorting me over to the next check-out counter soon to be opened. I was getting what seemed to me as the equivalent of a police escort to the shortest line, what could go wrong. Then, out of nowhere, like a flash of lightning, some woman scooted in front of me with a cart overflowing with single packaged items. Once again, she acted as if I was invisible. Now, I know that I am not invisible because everywhere I go people stare at me as if I'm from another planet.
Filipinos you're amazing people, but learn to respect the line!
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