Poverty And Some Effects Of It That We Do Not Perhaps Think About As Carefully As We Should.

[Jack Peterson]

but in Thailand many foreigners believe they can become a successful bar owner, because they have been a customer in such much.

Not just there Thomas, all over the World, people think OH! I can do this. I Bought a Pub/(bar in the UK 20 years ago. it lasted 8 months, people only see a bar during opening Hours, they Never see behind the scenes, The very early mornings, the very late nights and the Very Long Day in between. Preparations, stocking and Stock taking ( and this us where many Fail) They Forget every Drink you give away or get Stolen by bad Staff, is Your Profit. If you are Serving Food, it gets Worse. No! it is not the thing to go into with eyes half open.  Organizing attractions can be Suicide for the Uninitiated and many people who think they can Run a Pub (Bar) just because they spend so much time in one are surely Uninitiated, in the Running of one.

Of course they have to Remember, they will have to deal with a Customer like they were, Maybe Noisy and out of order a lot. If the Cleaner don't turn up, Guess who has to Do it? 

 

Eazy Peazy it aint!  Take it from one that has been there and failed.

 

 Not even a "T" shirt for my efforts.

 

 

JP :tiphat:

[El Negrito]

 

but in Thailand many foreigners believe they can become a successful bar owner, because they have been a customer in such much.

Not just there Thomas, all over the World, people think OH! I can do this. I Bought a Pub/(bar in the UK 20 years ago. it lasted 8 months, people only see a bar during opening Hours, they Never see behind the scenes, The very early mornings, the very late nights and the Very Long Day in between. Preparations, stocking and Stock taking ( and this us where many Fail) They Forget every Drink you give away or get Stolen by bad Staff, is Your Profit. If you are Serving Food, it gets Worse. No! it is not the thing to go into with eyes half open.  Organizing attractions can be Suicide for the Uninitiated and many people who think they can Run a Pub (Bar) just because they spend so much time in one are surely Uninitiated, in the Running of one.

Of course they have to Remember, they will have to deal with a Customer like they were, Maybe Noisy and out of order a lot. If the Cleaner don't turn up, Guess who has to Do it? 

 

Eazy Peazy it aint!  Take it from one that has been there and failed.

 

 Not even a "T" shirt for my efforts.

 

 

JP :tiphat:

 

 

 

And don't even think it will be easier if you get a partner or family or friends involved. I got burned pretty bad on that once.

[Jack Peterson]

And don't even think it will be easier if you get a partner or family or friends involved.

 

As we discuss here regularly, This is very relevant here,  :no:

My biggest thief in the UK was my niece. My Sisters family, ate well on my sides of beef and Pork, My BIL was enjoying My Teachers Whiskey but of course always an excuse. My dad said but Son how can you blame Family for losses.

 

Dad! ...................................!!  :unsure:  :rolleyes:

[UnCheckedOther]

Methersgate and Jake, thank you for your posts. Being the daughter of an older American man and a younger mixed-race Pinay woman, I grew up hating the bar girl women because I felt like my mom (a teacher) was being unfairly lumped in the same category. In high school, I once got into a cat fight with a Japanese-America classmate because he implied that all Filipina women who were married to American military men were prostitutes from Olongapo, Subic, Angeles, Armita. Because I am very obviously mixed-race, people often ask me "what" I am. "My dad's American, and my mom's from the Philippines. She was a teacher in Cebu when she was introduced by her cousin to my dad, who was visiting the country." Defense mechanism, so to speak, to pre-emtively dispel stereotypes. In short, I hated being part Pinay and hated the bar girls for making me feel ashamed to be Pinay. I believed them to be dirty, lazy, uneducated sex addicts who wanted to be used.

But now I understand that life isn't black and white; more often than not, the world we live in is in shades of grey. Although I still believe that we all have choices and that my fellow Pinays have a choice on whether they become bar girls or not, the choices in front of them are in shades of grey. When fced with being poor and being a virgin or having food to eat but becoming a bar girl, well, the choices aren't that much different. Essentially, do you hold om to your dignity and die from starvation, or do you use your body as collateral in order to survive just one more day? So thank you guys, for your discussions and for reminding me of the humanity of the people I grew up hatingm Thank you for bringing me down a notch and for allowing me to see my fellow Pinays as people rather than actions or statistics. In a different world, I could've been them.

[El Negrito]

In short, I hated being part Pinay and hated the bar girls for making me feel ashamed to be Pinay.

 

Wow, thanks for your very moving post UnCheckedOther. I remember growing up in mostly white neighborhoods I hated being black. It wasn't until Michael Jackson, Run DMC and other big singers and actors got really popular that things changed. I went to high school and suddenly everyone wanted a black friend and I became super popular.

.

Don't get me wrong, these kids didn't just want a black friend because it was cool but they were really curious and open to knowing more about what they had previously not known. We became great friends. Now I am proud of being black and you should be proud to be who you are too, all parts of it. Own it and be the best you that you can be.  :thumbsup:

[Methersgate]

I hated being part Pinay

 

Thank YOU for a very good posting.

 

My sons get the same issues - have done all their lives.

[Hey Steve]

UnCheckedOther, thank you for sharing that experience with us. I also know from personal experience, even from some of my own family,that the wrong shade of grey can be an unfair label placed on a person-and even a couple too. This is especially true if the family member-be it a wife, mother, even children at times are looked at in a more critical way-simply based on the country of origin.

In my case, it's the accusation that just because my wife is from the Philippines, she has a free ticket to the US and my money, simply because of her country of origin, so I understand the presumptive attitude (or label) unfairly placed on individuals.

Ignorant people are everywhere. We have to coexist with them through our walk in life, and sometimes the best thing to do is just over time to grow a thick skin and ignore them, since they really don't deserve your time of day. Again, thanks for sharing that in depth view. 

[Jake]

But now I understand that life isn't black and white; more often than not, the world we live in is in shades of grey. Although I still believe that we all have choices and that my fellow Pinays have a choice on whether they become bar girls or not, the choices in front of them are in shades of grey. When forced with being poor and being a virgin or having food to eat but becoming a bar girl, well, the choices aren't that much different. Essentially, do you hold om to your dignity and die from starvation, or do you use your body as collateral in order to survive just one more day?

 

So thank you guys, for your discussions and for reminding me of the humanity of the people I grew up hating them. Thank you for bringing me down a notch and for allowing me to see my fellow Pinays as people rather than actions or statistics. In a different world, I could've been them.

Hello Miss Unchecked,

 

You will soon discover that this wonderful forum is filled with wisdom of international flavor.  Many boots on the ground

reports of actual street level reality about working and living in PI.  I myself have also experienced eye openers learning

from my fellow expats about the Philippines.  

 

We are all curious and this forum provides many answers and thought provoking questions.  In fact, I am still curious if

the culture of poverty and its ramifications -- starvation leading to prostitution, drugs, homeless, etc, etc is unique to the

Philippines.  It would seem like other Asian countries (including India, Pakistan region) are in the same boat that needs

to be drained constantly before it sinks.  What makes the western world so different (but not necessarily better)??

 

Your profile says that your interest are in linguistics and travel.  Perhaps you can be our forum ambassador, writing the

many wonderful travel blogs or topics about your adventures in our native land.  Like you fellow member British Pinay,

you both have a very unique perspective -- western upbringing with a Filipina heart.  I would love to hear your stories.

 

One other thing about your Kuya Methersgate (Andrew) besides his own wonderful stories about China.  He is also Ivy

league (Cambridge), graduated with honors obtaining a BS degree in BS and now a master at it......he, he.  Joke lang

Pare!  I still lub you no chit, buy me dreenk, OK Joe?  

 

Have a nice day girl -- E pili mau na pomaika`i ia `oe (May blessings ever be with you), respectfully -- Kuya bastos Jake

Edited September 12, 2014 by Jake
spil chek

[Methersgate]

In fact, I am still curious if the culture of poverty and its ramifications -- starvation leading to prostitution, drugs, homeless, etc, etc is unique to the Philippines.  It would seem like other Asian countries (including India, Pakistan region) are in the same boat that needs to be drained constantly before it sinks.  What makes the western world so different (but not necessarily better)??  

 

Very interesting point.

 

I have a good friend who is Pakistani and lives in Lahore, and another English friend who decamped to Cambodia after thirty years in the Philippines, and a couple of English friends in Thailand. I don't know anyone in Indonesia or Vietnam. They all seem to tell the same sort of story, but the Philippines seems to have a slightly higher birth rate and to do slightly worse economically, although the attitude to women is much better in the Philippines than it is in the Indian subcontinent.   

 

China is in quite a different category; there is still awful poverty but there is much less than there was, and the Chinese as a nation have a characteristic that I see nowhere else.

 

Mao's mausoleum has been "closed for repairs" quite regularly; in my opinion, what  they are actually doing is pinning the old boy down to the slab that he lies on, because he is not so much turning in his grave as spinning like a top!

 

He set out to eliminate the bourgeoisie, and he failed utterly - every single person that I have ever met in China comes fully equipped with a  full set of middle class values - respect for education indeed, but much more than that a determination to save money, to live carefully and frugally, and to get ahead in the world if at all possible, whilst not disturbing the status  quo.  

Edited September 12, 2014 by Methersgate

[El Negrito]

Because I am very obviously mixed-race, people often ask me "what" I am. "My dad's American, and my mom's from the Philippines. She was a teacher in Cebu when she was introduced by her cousin to my dad, who was visiting the country." Defense mechanism, so to speak, to pre-emtively dispel stereotypes. In short, I hated being part Pinay and hated the bar girls for making me feel ashamed to be Pinay.

 

One thing I forgot to add is a question. Don't you know that most people find people of mixed race very attractive, more so than single race? Most Pinoy's seem to prefer to have a little mix in the family or their children. Again, be proud girl!  :thumbsup: