Annoying Local Behavior

[hk blues]

19 minutes ago, fillipino_wannabe said:

She has a business in Manila also and we've never had a problem with employees there. I assume because they've got bills to pay there whereas in 'the province' they're normally living with family and don't really care if they have no money for a while.

And yes the grocery store has been eventful lol. We had a Karen come in yesterday after work in her DTI polo shirt, she managed to find 1 item out of 1500 without a price tag and started screaming 'this is illegal, this is illegal, look at my polo shirt, I work for DTI'.

She should be focusing on SM supermarket where half the stock (OK, I'm exaggerating) has no price tag or a price on the shelf relating to it.  And, half the price check machines don't work.

I guess I've inadvertently just identified another annoying local behaviour! 

[RBM]

20 hours ago, Mike J said:

The touch screen on my Huawei was only working intermittently, would take multiple tries to recognize a touch.  My wife took it to a vendor in Ayala Mall.  Cost was only 1600 peso and it was done the following day.  I was shocked at the price, even more so when I saw the returned part that they replaced.  I even have a new battery.   Below is the part they gave back to my wife.  As you can see they replaced a lot for only 1600.  Understatement to say I was pleased!

 

Mine is now exactly as yours was. Went yesterday to shop where I purchased fone, they explained the new LCD fitted is the cheapest available, just does not scowl easily and one must often hit buttons multiply times when texting. The samsung service center (where I should of gone) can replace the LCD with an improved version for P5500, how ever will not be the same like new, 

Your extremely fortunate Mike to hit on a decent shop.

[Snowy79]

On 5/19/2023 at 11:51 AM, Onemore52 said:

Hopefully still on subject, that their complaints of being poor and not able to afford anything doesn’t hold water when it comes to their work ethic.

As an example the gardener who I employ gave me a sob story about having to borrow money from a loan shark during the pandemic and borrowed 120k from him, so I gave him a job at 500php a day.

He has showed up for work 2 days this week.

A common theme. I've had friends with businesses advertising jobs and multiple people applying then no one turn up or they turn up until they get their first pay packet and are never heard of again until the money runs out then they beg for a second chance.  

[Onemore52]

19 minutes ago, Snowy79 said:

A common theme. I've had friends with businesses advertising jobs and multiple people applying then no one turn up or they turn up until they get their first pay packet and are never heard of again until the money runs out then they beg for a second chance.  

They are a weird mob, today we don’t have enough workers to operate both factories so we had to send some workers home without pay, we tried to give some of them a job here in the house but the thing is those workers that didn’t show know full well that we can’t operate 2 lines without them  but they just don’t care.

One worker fronted up wanting an advance of 7k so he could get married today but we have been caught with this scam before, where they run up debts and then do a runner. I guess they think we are stupid. Got some news for them.

 

[hk blues]

I suppose a lot of the issues we encounter can be put down to a lack of work ethic which may be a result of the happy-go-lucky mentality here where the basis premise is don't worry, all will be well in the end. Somehow. 

Maybe also the negative consequences of doing well is the expectation of the family around that you will help them out so somewhat removing the incentive to get on in life.

Possibly we just don't get it whilst the locals are fine with it.

[Mike J]

1 hour ago, Snowy79 said:

A common theme. I've had friends with businesses advertising jobs and multiple people applying then no one turn up or they turn up until they get their first pay packet and are never heard of again until the money runs out then they beg for a second chance.  

I can't help but wonder if it is a different mind set here.  Security for me  was having a job and an emergency fund while building the 401K for retirement.   Many Filipinos seem to value "free time i.e. not working" once they have met immediate needs.  Just my uneducated opinion of course.  

[Cola Cubes]

"Am I ok for right now?"   Their "thinking" does not go beyond that.

It is not related to low salary.  If you pay more, many will work less days, as they can meet their needs with less work.

Like a dog will never save a treat for later, neither will a Pinoy save a peso for an upcoming event (bills, birthday, school requirements).

Generalising of course.  

[OnMyWay]

2 hours ago, hk blues said:

I suppose a lot of the issues we encounter can be put down to a lack of work ethic which may be a result of the happy-go-lucky mentality here where the basis premise is don't worry, all will be well in the end. Somehow. 

Maybe also the negative consequences of doing well is the expectation of the family around that you will help them out so somewhat removing the incentive to get on in life.

Possibly we just don't get it whilst the locals are fine with it.

Purely anecdotal on my part.  We have a lot of industry in SBFZ.  Some large factories employing hundreds of people and many smaller factories employing less than a hundred.  A lot of assembly work.  At rush hours, the majority of them wear a company issued polo shirt or t-shirt.  The vast majority of these workers live in Olongapo but some come from further out.  M-Sa, they commute by busses staged in the Ologapo border area of the freeport, or vans, or by motorcycles, or bicycles, or by walking. Many factories run two shifts.  Not sure about third shift.  Lots of cars too, but I would speculate those are driven by managers who may bring a few employees.

I observe them a lot when taking my kids to school at morning rush, and often I hit the evening rush for various reasons.  What I see is:

A large majority are women.

Many motorcycles are driven by a male with a female worker on the back.  Speculation is that the male is the non-working partner, or brother, of the female worker.

Possible conclusions:

A.  The factories prefer females, for various reasons.

B.  Many families have a female bread winner.

C.  Women have a better work ethic.

D.  Men don't want to work these jobs, or any jobs.

E.  ??????

[Tommy T.]

On 5/19/2023 at 12:09 PM, Onemore52 said:

On the subject of maids  there isn’t any to be found.

You might find maidens easier to find... but more difficult to work with!
Just kidding there...

L and I have found the same issue, which I think is still on point with this topic. It seems almost impossible to find people to work consistently for a decent wage (by Phil standards - 500+/day?). It seems to the be old adage - they work for a day, make their 500 and are millionaires for a day then vanish? 

And similar to @OnMyWaycomments about - always broke, smoking always, asking for cash advances, have a handful of kids..... And... they own no tools. We have one guy who we let borrow our (brand new) tools and he takes care of them. L told me that anyone needing to use power tools must rent them from sometimes P200/day. I normally don't loan tools, but I keep an eye on this guy and he is careful and puts them away where they belong at night. We feel lucky to have this guy. He has dedication to L after doing lots of work for her over several years. We treat him fairly and pay him fairly (p700/day) but he is a trained and experienced mason and thinks when he works. His work is usually good and - mort importantly - if we see something he doesn't do right or makes a mistake - we correct him and he accepts the correction without question and makes it right.  How many are out there like this? There are a few gems out there, I know.

[Tommy T.]

I am going to go a bit off topic... It is a very short rant....

Please delete or move as you see fit, Mods...

My personal opinion is that FaceBook is the arch criminal in all this. Even L shows me things she sees on FB and tells me I/we really need this.... No!

Her co-teachers buy stuff online through FB continually. There is a sort of competition going on with who buys or owns the next neatest thing. It seems like as soon as some product is introduced online, people pounce on it and buy it in droves. L has bought a few things this way and I just shrug my shoulders and say....okay, nice. There seem to be ongoing "auctions" for "stuff" that seems to be used and probably for sale at an ukay ukay store.....but it is available online using a sort of bidding system. 

In short, consumerism is rampant here and one-up-man-ship seems to be part of the system.  The poorest people seem to fleece themselves out of their hard-earned (sometimes) wages.

Sorry.... end of rant!

Edited May 22, 2023 by Tommy T.