Annoying Local Behavior

[Freebie]

3 hours ago, RBM said:

Similar to the gestapo  like management of our complex, its just a power game....give them a tiny bit of authority and......................

Had a fun few days with my condo guards... needed a tv repair guy just to look at my tv . Only look. He arrives and I get the usual BS "no sir he cant come in with out permit".

Sir im inviting him to the property, the one that I OWN. Hes not doing any work and isnt a contractor.....ok so he gets in.. 5 minutes later a guard is outside my door asking why the guy doesnt have permit.

Take photo of guard, tell him to leave the area outside my property immediately  and call the property GM. Guard leaves immediately.  TV guys says Needs repair . He says I return tomorrow.

Next day  TV guy is there, and I supply proper work permit. Still they question why hes there ( they dont know how much tagalog I understand ) even though  Im standing next to them. I go off at the guards for failing to respect owners.. Guards just parrot :" were following Ayala rules ". I parrot and you know who pays for F---ing Ayala to employ you etc.  TV is fixed but that night stops gain.

TV guy  comes again to front gate as per previous 2 times, this time guard says no he needs to go to loading dock. " Sir please explain why twice this week he entered through this gate and now not. Doesnt compute, is inconsistent and doesnt make sense.. " I wasnt happy at all.

Fortunately a security supervisor was watching and came over and solved the issue very well. He has seen me in the property for past 6 years. He says I will take  care of this for you.. and takes the TV guy to loading dock and then to outside my unit.  He and I then chat and he apologizes for rude behavious of guards.. tell me they knew. Maybe they are or arent... I tell him I know how security staff think once they have a uniform on, they are all powerful and the Filipinos cower at them. I dont.

I see thousands of these guys , generally sitting on hollow block chairs playing on their phone basically doing nothing Plenty in malls waving their silly little metal detecting wand that serves no purpose and then the ones with the drumsticks fiddling around in peoples bags. .. When I realise how irritating these endless guards everywhere are, I think maybe Ive been here too long.

 

[mountainside]

3 hours ago, Joey G said:

why in the world people do so many people drive around at night with no headlights

Several Filipinos have told me that keeping the headlights off "saves the battery".  One of my wife's Filipino professional engineer relatives says he's given up on explaining about generators/alternators.  He drives at night, but as a relative youngster, he has better night vision than I.

[Possum]

9 minutes ago, mountainside said:

Several Filipinos have told me that keeping the headlights off "saves the battery".  One of my wife's Filipino professional engineer relatives says he's given up on explaining about generators/alternators.  He drives at night, but as a relative youngster, he has better night vision than I.

I was stepping out of my house one night and almost got hit by a motorcycle with no light on. He stopped and asked if I was OK and I told him yes but he needs to turn his damn headlight on. His reply? "I can see !" 

[JJReyes]

2 hours ago, Freebie said:

When I realise how irritating these endless guards everywhere are, I think maybe Ive been here too long.

Security guards in Metro Manila out number law enforcement four to one.  Excellent way to generate employment for the unemployed.

[Old55]

1 hour ago, Greglm said:

 His reply? "I can see !" 

There is absolutely no way to fix stupid. 

In fact this explanation sums up the entire issue. Me. All about me. 

Edited March 18, 2023 by Old55

[gbmmbg]

7 hours ago, mountainside said:

Several Filipinos have told me that keeping the headlights off "saves the battery".  One of my wife's Filipino professional engineer relatives says he's given up on explaining about generators/alternators.  He drives at night, but as a relative youngster, he has better night vision than I.

The gate guard in the subdivision we lived in would tell me "sir you light is on" i tried to explain to him that it comes on when i start the bike,safety thing. got the deer in the headlights look. 

[Jack Peterson]

 AAH! come on Guys do you not think we are being a tad OTT with all this, ever thought for every whinge we have about them they have  the same or maybe more about us, sometimes we can be our worst enemies. Just a thought considering, we are in the confines of their culture 

[jimeve]

33 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

 AAH! come on Guys do you not think we are being a tad OTT with all this, ever thought for every whinge we have about them they have  the same or maybe more about us, sometimes we can be our worst enemies. Just a thought considering, we are in the confines of their culture 

Only problems I have is with other foreigners, apart from you mate of course.

[Possum]

5 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

 AAH! come on Guys do you not think we are being a tad OTT with all this, ever thought for every whinge we have about them they have  the same or maybe more about us, sometimes we can be our worst enemies. Just a thought considering, we are in the confines of their culture

I wonder that sometimes myself but then my wife who has spent all her life in the Philippines pipes up and says the people driving are uneducated about driving, the people walking by the road are ignorant but once you get them off the streets and in a private setting they are mostly nice. I tend to agree.

[Gator]

Perhaps it's an American thing or the way I was raised as well as the people I associated with, but I find it bothersome when complete strangers here ask me what I consider to be quite personal questions. I'm long accustomed to the doe eyed ladies asking if I'm married or have a gf; that doesn't bother me as I know they're fishing for a presumably rich foreign husband, bf or sugar daddy. What I'm referring too are locals who are total strangers asking about my current income / pension, how much I earned when I was working, how much I pay for rent, how much I sold my house in the USA for, etc.

For the income and some other questions I usually play Freud, turn it back on them and ask them the same question(s) or simply ask "Why do you need to know that? Are you thinking of becoming a (nuclear engineer, street sweeper, astronaut, garbage man, stunt man, fighter pilot, submarine captain, or insert some other exotic / mundane career) like I was?".  

For the rent question my usual reply: "Why, you want to rent there? Here's the number for the owner, call and ask yourself!".

The looks I get are priceless!