12.10.2007

how talkative are filipinos?

i was running late early today and no taxi was available in the airport road. i had to wait for more than 30minutes to get hold of one.

the driver was a pakistani. good thing he stopped right in front of me, otherwise i would have not gotten the ride. anyway, i haven't even said where i was going when he started asking me "kumusta ka?". i was flushed, but happy at the same time, to be asked how i was when everything else seemed to be crumbling. he flashed a huge smile, not really perfect, but a smile- even from a complete stranger- was what i needed this morning. and so i smiled back, told him i was fine (and that was in english) and added i was going to the villa next to the philippine embassy.

to my surprise he asked me again, "doon ang trabaho mo?". geez, the man was cool. i told him i am not working yet, that i am only visiting someone who lives around the embassy vicinity. he quipped: "nah, hindi maganda dito wala trabaho, dapat meron dahil lahat mahal,". holy molly! did i hear him right?

he went on to lecture me about the fast and expensive lifestyle people here have to adapt to. he said that one has to find work right away, not only to save himself/herself from the prospect of exit, but to enjoy life. and according to him, to enjoy life is to earn the pay.

why? because money here has so much purchasing power. take a twenty bill from ur pocket, enter a supermarket, and u'd come out with a bag or two of goodies. even a five bill could take u a long way. and a coin could allow one to munch on pringles, or savor a wok of noodles, or enjoy a cadbury.

he said all these things in tagalog. his sentences may not be perfectly constructed, but the thing was that he was conversant in our dialect. he would even tease me by asking, "tama?" or "bakit ka natahimik?".

when i commended him for his good communication skills, he said "kasi kayo filipino masyado madaldal," followed by a really, really hearty laugh. it turned out that he favors kabayans for passengers over other nationalities because filipinos talk a lot, are bubbly, and considerate. he mentioned that only filipinos would invite taxi drivers to eat with them when they eat inside the vehicle. filipinos would always ask "kumusta ka?" whenever they would get in a cab. "filipinos are madaldal," he said again and again, and this comment sent me laughing all the way to the office.

5 comments:

  1. Hala! I'm touched and i'm smiling. grabe.

    ReplyDelete
  2. bitaw talkatvie gyud baya!

    murag gud ikaw ga storya lang sa office dati maski wala ka storya.. mu katawa pa gyud kalit bwehehehe

    ReplyDelete
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