At the check-out counter of SM Supermarket (THE most famous grocery store chain in the Philippines):
Female attendant in her 40s: Where is your Filipina?
50s Caucasian American male: Oh, I’m married to a Filipino.
Female attendant in her 40s: It's Filipina, sir. Not Filipino.
50s Caucasian American male: Oh, he is Filipino. (Turns to point at me behind him.)
Me: Yes, we are married.
Female attendant in her 40s: “Ay! Ang swerte n’yo naman, sir!" (Oh, you are so lucky, sir!)
50s Caucasian American male: No, Ma’m. I am the lucky one.
My husband always gets extra attention more than I do in my own country. To him, it is a compliment. To me, I call it reverse-discrimination.
I share this here to highlight the welcoming nature of Filipinos. I’m sure strangers, or in this case, a foreigner, gets all of the advantages of being foreign. Doors are opened for them as they walk into buildings with an oh-so-charming greeting reserved only to them. No, I never get that greeting.
On one occasion, my husband and I decided to take our two other Caucasian friends to dinner at this posh restaurant. I was driving. As I parked next to the entrance, the guard rushed over to open the passenger doors with his umbrella as it started to rain. He escorted all of my passengers with his umbrella to the restaurant doorway, only to leave me behind. Noticing that he wasn’t going to escort me with his umbrella, I decided to just dash right in. I called him out on it: ‘Kuya (a polite pronoun), nakalimutan mo ata ako. Ako pa naman ang magbabayad para sa mga bisita ko. Sa ulitin, huwag mo naman ako kalimutan. Magkakulay pa naman tayo.’ (Sir, I think you forgot about me. What you don’t know is that I’m paying for this dinner for my guests. Next time, please do not discriminate against your own kind, especially since we both are the same color.)
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