Paraglider, My Objective Response

Reading Paraglider's hub, I do THANK him for having a great opinion of Filipinos. I share most of his observations - but like other peoples, there are other nationalities too probably are as great. Now, before eveyone gets upsets, I have to tell you I am Filipino and there are cultural traits that I do not honestly like -

- For instance, what is this penchant for endless fiestas? There are problems in this world and here we go celebration some saint's birthday dancing and eating in the streets. That's alright if fiesta-ing weren't endless. Plus I find the display of the lechon roasted pig rather gory and I feel like crying over such animal cruelty. Okay, most people do not GET my point... but why can't we eat roasted pig cut in slices instead of seeing the whole pig with the bamboo stick piercing through the mouth down the stomach to the rectal opening?Isn't this inhumane? hen we gorge ourselves all because it is some saint's birthday and we don't even now the historical background of this saint and if he/she is even worth remembering?

-Christmas starts in September. We think it's alright to have the longest Christmas celebration in the planet when it really is BAD for the economy. September, prices begin to rise as people get bitten by the Christmas zombie bug. Remember the law of demand and supply guys? Then people begin to go `malling' more often and push each other , sometimes rather violently, just to get the promo new psp or latest mobile phone on Christmas sale. It's like three months of fast pace shopping, eating and traffic. Can't we be more sensible and celebrate the birth of Jesus without dying of suffocation in one of these mega-malls?

- Fireworks they come toward the end of Christmas and Metro Manila begins to sound like we've been attacked by some invisible invading army. In short, that's the peak of the national insanity when we do NOTHING but eat , celebrate and then destroy the environment and compete with our neighbors making sure that we make the loudest noise. What is WRONG with us? If we want to play war, surely we can do so without the firecrackers by using something else like paint guns without noise. I HATE (heavy word I know) it because of the smell of sulfur and the toxic smog plus it harms our eardrums. It also is animal cruelty because remember that our pets have times more the ability to hear. Can't we be more humane and THINK about them as the New Year begins? Then we have little kids rushed to the hospital ER because they lose a finger or two or a whole hand --- and this is the way we start a New Year?

-High mortality rate because of the song MY WAY in karaoke bars. People shooting each other because they wish to be FIRST to sing that song sounds hilarious, if it isn't too pathetic. Usually these are henpecked men anyway so they have to show their being macho by getting drunk and singing MY WAY and making sure they shoot whoever attempts to sing that song before they do. Sure, they come home and they usually are so sweet and loving to their wives/women after they've just murdered someone over a song. It dos not come as a surprise that most Karaoke bars have banned that song.

- Shampoo hair craze, I don't GET it. Why would anyone want unnaturally smooth hair even when there are typhoon winds? Add hair spa, hair relax, 'cellophane treatment' and the everyday hair conditioner that we use. Okay it looks lovely, but why the hair obsession? Sitting three hours in a salon for hair's sake is not my idea of sanity.

- I can't get regular ponds without the whitening ingredient. Isn't this racist? It is hard to understand why people want to glow in whiteness like Kris Aquino. I love tan, most people find tan attractive and exotic so it is hard to see any sense in this whitening craze, especially when they even take desperate measures and swallow Chinese Whitening pills.

- The latest cell phone obsession. Why do we have the latest mobile? Or even TWO of them? One with the Smart number and one with the Globe number? Is that rational? We're the only people who managed to do something as hilarious as deposing a President using text messaging. Sure, I am proud that was a peaceful effort but c'mon, we can't be text-ing everyone and gathering at EDSA each time we are pissed. Deposing our presidents are not picnics held in the streets with the dance and song numbers- we're pretty lucky it didn't get bloody the last time.

- Frankly, I do not like the YABANG PINOY slogan. It reminds me of Hitler and his ultra-nationalism and our little kids may begin t think that we are the best race on this earth. Whom are we kidding? Sure I am all for motivational talk but hey,let's get real.

-Telenovelas. I am sick of them. I get sicker when it's the Korean type that we dub in English and Tagalog. I turn to the History Channel instead or HBO.. I mean, c'mon, don't we have realy good creative writers?

- The need for more than one maid is again, something I do not understand. Oh I was born with three 'yayas' but as I grew older I found out that normal people do not need three maids in a household. One is enough IF members of the family learn how to cook, wash their own clothes, and for pete's sake USE A WASHING MACHINE. A hand-washed tee shirt is as clean as one that is machine washed, get it? I am sick of all these ads that equate whiter laudry results with love.

Now we go to positive traits -

- Paraglider was right, I love the way we say what we mean and mean what we say.

- I love our inherent honesty as a people and our fantastic sense of humor even in the middle of a typhoon.

- I love the way we keep family and friends closest to our hearts. I love the respect we give our elders and the natural way we care about them.

- I love the Bayanihan spirit. The fact that it seems natural for us to help total strangers is something that I am proud of. We do tend to overdo that sometimes and get into trouble. Take the many cases of kids saving their sisters and brothers during a typhoon but giving their life to save their sibling. How many of these ids should have just shouted or called for help instead of jumping to the lake or flood or beach to save the other?

-I love the way we do not shoot those suicidal people who go up the highest EDSA billboards because of some love or financial problem. Do that in more conservative countries and they'd shoot you. Instead, we have a police force that TALKS it out.. which can be 'bad' too. Remember Mendoza and that hour hostage crisis that upset Hongkong? The police could have shot that guy immediately but they catered to his every whim because they thought they could 'talk him out' of his crime.

Paraglider is right in MOST points though. but I wonder what he would think when he sees those animal right activists whom I love walking wearing lettuce leaves? Or seeing our girls LOOKOVER their naked men in an 'oblation' run. We are THAT cool.