Hospitality Industry Pay

[Freebie]

On 2/23/2024 at 1:06 PM, JJReyes said:

Easy.  I follow the cultural rule most beneficial to me.  My birthday is never celebrated in the Philippines (where I have to pay for it) by explaining, "It's against my i religion."  No further explanation is given.

I do the same with the " dont forget my pasulobong "messages. For very close friends, no worries , they dont remind.

All the other waifs and strays get told.. " sorry but its bad luck in my culture to bring and give gifts. I dont want bad luck ".. Usually get a "sorry po, I didnt know " lol

[Gutenberg]

This sounds like the current Philippine tradition is that you have to pay for your birthday party and it seems to be weird for Americans. For me as a German this normal and I think in most parts of Europe it is as well. Usually you are invited to someone's home but it's also held in restaurants and the host who pays is always the guy whose birthday it is. I like it that way.

 

[Viking]

21 minutes ago, Gutenberg said:

This sounds like the current Philippine tradition is that you have to pay for your birthday party and it seems to be weird for Americans. For me as a German this normal and I think in most parts of Europe it is as well. Usually you are invited to someone's home but it's also held in restaurants and the host who pays is always the guy whose birthday it is. I like it that way.

 

I am from Sweden and it's the same. But I actually think I would prefer the American way. Having a birthday party is just a hassle for the the one celebrating, in my opinion it should be the other way around.

The difference between the Philippines and the European way, is that in Europe (at least in Sweden) the guests is expected to bring gifts to the host, in my experience that isn't the case in the Philippines. Some do but it is not expected.

[Clermont]

I still think the Australian birthday is the best, a barby, bring your own drinks, tucker provided, if you bring a plate of goodie’s all the better, no one frowns if you don’t and you can generally fit three birthdays into one year, yeah give me an Ozzie birthday any day.

[JJReyes]

1 minute ago, Clermont said:

I still think the Australian birthday is the best, a barby, bring your own drinks, tucker provided, if you bring a plate of goodie’s all the better, no one frowns if you don’t and you can generally fit three birthdays into one year, yeah give me an Ozzie birthday any day.

Hawaiians have the best potluck picnics.  You contribute food and then go home with more food than you brought.

[JJReyes]

7 hours ago, scott h said:

I have seen comments like these before on the board about how we need to respect and follow the "local" culture. That has gotten me to thinking about this over the years. 

What is the "Filipino" culture? Are we talking about the culture of the 10 major tribal groups that occupied the islands before the arrival of the Spanish? Or are we talking about the cultural habits introduced by the Spanish (many of which are actually Mexican/Atzec in origin) Or the culture aspects that were brought to the islands by the Chinese merchants/pirates who have controlled large sections of of the western coast over 1000 years before the arrival of the Spanish. (the Barangay next to us is named Don Galo after a local hero how defeated a Chinese bandit group). Or are we talking about hamburger, hotdog, pizza and hotdog culture introduced during the 50 years of American "colonization"? 

A good example is the National formal dress. The Barong Tagalog which was worn by men worn before the Spanish arrived and the Mara Clara worn by women which is entirely Spanish in origin.

So the burning question is,,,,,,,,,,what is this Filipino culture we are supposed to respect?

An easy way to describe Filipino culture is a popular expression when we were teenagers.  "350 years in a convent, 50 years of Hollywood."

[JJReyes]

I should add, one of the most important celebrations in Hawaii is the child's first birthday.  Families spend a fortune equal to a wedding for this event.  The reason is Hawaii's isolation meant the population did not have immunity for many Western diseases like measles, smallpox, chicken pox, mumps, etc.  The belief was, if a child survived one year, it meant they had developed natural immunity.  There are about 40,000 Hawaiians living in Las Vegas and working in the hospitality industry.  Locals are shocked some celebrations last 3 days of eating, dancing, singing, and more eating.

[Freebie]

Same important celebration for HK /China for first child's birthday. Based on a similar thought, that the child survived their  first year.

Second birthday... cake only !

[hk blues]

I'm not sure if it's a UK culture or just amongst my group but if we went to a restaurant to celebrate with friends for any reason, including a birthday, we would tend to share the bill rather than one person pay.  Of course, there may be very special events where someone would foot the bill but that wouldn't be the norm.  But, when it comes to birthdays, if we did celebrate it would more likely be at home and the host would provide the food and the guests bring a bottle or two and maybe some food, maybe not.  

We don't make such a show of such events nor do we judge others on what they do or don't contribute - at least not openly! 

[Mike J]

15 hours ago, Clermont said:

I still think the Australian birthday is the best, a barby, bring your own drinks, tucker provided, if you bring a plate of goodie’s all the better, no one frowns if you don’t and you can generally fit three birthdays into one year, yeah give me an Ozzie birthday any day.

That is how my wife and I do our birthdays here.  The family also helps with the cleanup, washing dishes, etc. which is a help.