8.06.2003
I have witnessed it for the second time. Racism in the philippines! (audience gasps in dumbfoundment, and disgust I suppose). Or something as close to it as it can get (other than in call centers based in the country with a black man at work).
Ok, heres how it went down. Black guy going down the stairs of the poorly designed Quezon Avenue MRT Station (as soon as you read black guy, you know its a race thing). Rain falling. I walk up to the intersection of EDSA and Quezon Ave. to catch a ride on an FX to get home. I got in one, and 'lo and behold, the fuckwit of a driver waited until the he can cram all the passengers that he can inside the vehicle. While waiting, i see the black guy again and he's asking for directions on how to get to someplace. First some guy directed him to get on a jeep. Then the foreigner gets off. Now he's talking to the same guy he was talking to earlier and directs him to ride in the FX i'm waiting in. At this point there are two passengers up front, two at the back and three in the middle (for anyone outside of the philippines reading this e-mail me personally and i can give you some more info on what you don't understand). The black guy got in and sats in the middle squishing everyone inside. he's not big, but four people in the middle seat of an FX is still a stupid-ass idea. So, as the foreigner tries to close door, the Filipino he was talking to earlier yells out 'American' to some of his mates ushering potential passengers to ride a jeep or FX. that to me was just distasteful. The old guy in the backseat was saying in Tagalog that he can't fit because he's big in a very condescending way.
Now the black guy closes the door and says 'Philcoa'. He said it in an accent other than American. (ok he might be an American who hasnt got the accent yet). The Driver looked at him and just looked. Didn't respond or anything, just looked. Then goes back into driving.
Nearing Philcoa, the driver is nowhere near the side of the road to be able to stop in the unloading area. The Black guy asks in the direction of the driver if he is going by Miriam College? No one answers. he asks it a second time and i answer 'No he's not'. He asks it a third time. I answer again 'No, he's not'. Right then i felt the driver fumbling for something to say. He instead, just tries to manuever through traffic to stop the vehicle in the intersection of a Y-shape of the road. Black guy asks's 'Can you tell me? He's telling me' driver stops the vehicle at the Y-shape intersection. Black guy gets off and hand the driver 20 philippine pesos. Absolutely more than what he needed to pay.
Ignorant old guy at the back rang out comments like hotcakes. Like the black guy smelled bad. The driver now just smiles at the passengers sitting beside him. The passengers ignored him. From this point on the driver spat out car care tips, because the road has become a little bit flooded in some areas. But probably more out of desparation to have someone respond to him. Everyone ignored him the rest of the ride.
Don't know if the foreigner got to Miriam College or not but i can tell you that this is one of those bad experience stories in the Philippines he's gonna be tellin' the staff at Miriam College let alone his mates in his country.
This is just sad. Sad, sad, sad. Ignorance is the mama of racism. So, to all the Filipinos reading this. got any racism in the company you work for?
Sidenote: August 27. Mark your calendar. The Male populations home planet of Mars will be so close it'll be almost a quarter as big the moon on that night. That will be as close as Mars will get to the earth until the next 5000 years or so. Some of us can get home finally. Watch the skies. i'll send an article about it to anyone interested.
Take care! ('coz i don't)
Ok, heres how it went down. Black guy going down the stairs of the poorly designed Quezon Avenue MRT Station (as soon as you read black guy, you know its a race thing). Rain falling. I walk up to the intersection of EDSA and Quezon Ave. to catch a ride on an FX to get home. I got in one, and 'lo and behold, the fuckwit of a driver waited until the he can cram all the passengers that he can inside the vehicle. While waiting, i see the black guy again and he's asking for directions on how to get to someplace. First some guy directed him to get on a jeep. Then the foreigner gets off. Now he's talking to the same guy he was talking to earlier and directs him to ride in the FX i'm waiting in. At this point there are two passengers up front, two at the back and three in the middle (for anyone outside of the philippines reading this e-mail me personally and i can give you some more info on what you don't understand). The black guy got in and sats in the middle squishing everyone inside. he's not big, but four people in the middle seat of an FX is still a stupid-ass idea. So, as the foreigner tries to close door, the Filipino he was talking to earlier yells out 'American' to some of his mates ushering potential passengers to ride a jeep or FX. that to me was just distasteful. The old guy in the backseat was saying in Tagalog that he can't fit because he's big in a very condescending way.
Now the black guy closes the door and says 'Philcoa'. He said it in an accent other than American. (ok he might be an American who hasnt got the accent yet). The Driver looked at him and just looked. Didn't respond or anything, just looked. Then goes back into driving.
Nearing Philcoa, the driver is nowhere near the side of the road to be able to stop in the unloading area. The Black guy asks in the direction of the driver if he is going by Miriam College? No one answers. he asks it a second time and i answer 'No he's not'. He asks it a third time. I answer again 'No, he's not'. Right then i felt the driver fumbling for something to say. He instead, just tries to manuever through traffic to stop the vehicle in the intersection of a Y-shape of the road. Black guy asks's 'Can you tell me? He's telling me' driver stops the vehicle at the Y-shape intersection. Black guy gets off and hand the driver 20 philippine pesos. Absolutely more than what he needed to pay.
Ignorant old guy at the back rang out comments like hotcakes. Like the black guy smelled bad. The driver now just smiles at the passengers sitting beside him. The passengers ignored him. From this point on the driver spat out car care tips, because the road has become a little bit flooded in some areas. But probably more out of desparation to have someone respond to him. Everyone ignored him the rest of the ride.
Don't know if the foreigner got to Miriam College or not but i can tell you that this is one of those bad experience stories in the Philippines he's gonna be tellin' the staff at Miriam College let alone his mates in his country.
This is just sad. Sad, sad, sad. Ignorance is the mama of racism. So, to all the Filipinos reading this. got any racism in the company you work for?
Sidenote: August 27. Mark your calendar. The Male populations home planet of Mars will be so close it'll be almost a quarter as big the moon on that night. That will be as close as Mars will get to the earth until the next 5000 years or so. Some of us can get home finally. Watch the skies. i'll send an article about it to anyone interested.
Take care! ('coz i don't)
