Foreigners Behaving Badly

[TheMason]

When i see a foreigner with a girl out walking or in the mall or whatever, I am thinking its his gf or wife, But when a filipino sees a foreigner with a girl they assume she is a prostitute.

if true that is very bad, how do you suppose we can change their thoughts?

Oh, it's true all right. My wife deals with the snide comments and disapproving looks almost every time we go out. If there is a big age gap, the assumption is even more prevalent. Its been my experience that the Filipinos that are doing well economically are more vocal and obvious about their disapproval. If we go to SM, the stares and comments are more obvious than at the local market.I think the best way to change it would be if the sex industry were reined in and foreigners stopped coming to the Philippines for the cheap prostitutes. That would be a good start.

[TheMason]

Just want to say this about that. :-)There are situations where I've seen even the most mild mannered individual get a bit over the line while drinking. It's one of the pitfalls of over imbibing. I'm sure the majority of us have been there a time or two, Filipinos included I'm sure.It's common to single out one incident and then form opinions. But in the long run most people who get themselves into a bad situation like that are not bad people, just human.Not to mention that if I am not mistaken, the incident which started this thread was instigated by an unscrupulous taxi driver who tried to take advantage of the man's condition and give him the scenic tour of Cebu. Had that not occurred, I'm not sure that we would even be discussing anything. To that end, the foreigner did not become abusive until he was unfairly taken advantage of. So is this a case of an abusive foreigner, or just a bad example (by a foreigner) of the consequences which can take place because of the propensity many Filipinos have to take advantage of foreigners at any given chance?There was another well established foreigner who went into the hospital recently for a hernia operation. The doctors and the hospital, in my opinion and his, took advantage of his condition and piled on inflated charge after charge. When he made a comment about it, the reply from one of the hospital staff was "you are a foreigner and it is so little money to you". That is exactly the way many Filipinos think, that it's ok to rip you off because you can afford it.I know for me it get's bad some days when even little things like jeepney conductors giving me incorrect change for my fair or trying to keep my change altogether, it really frustrates me. If you ask around and get down to the mentality behind it, it's always that the foreigner is rich and it does not matter to him. It's not the little things that happen, it's the constant barrage of little things that wear you down dealing with this mentality.I did not see the video clip so I have no opinion there, I'm just saying that we should hopefully jot judge individuals by their actions during one bad day.And James, most of the time Kanos (Aussie to New Zealanders) are relegated to being nothing more than Ambassadors of Kwan.

Bob, I agree with what you are saying, but you leave out the part that a Filipino will attempt to screw a fellow Filipino out of money just as quickly as they will a foreigner. Its part of the culture here that if someone has money, it is your duty to try to get some of it for yourself by any means possible. That sentiment is not bound by the nationality of the person with money. The people from the provinces deal with the same sort of thing. The difference is, a Filipino is less likely to allow it because they speak the language and know how to deal with it more effectively when it does happen. Very few prices are fixed here and people will attempt to overcharge you at every turn. You have to take precautions against it, and when it happens, its best just to let it go rather than get in a confrontation about it. When you think about it, the taxi driver's behavior is not that out of the ordinary no matter what country it happened in. We all know tourists to NY will get taken advantage of if they aren't careful. The difference is, when it happens in NY, there are places you can go and you have recourse to solve the problem other than getting confrontational. The LTFRB doesn't care too much about over charging drivers, you have to deal with it on your own.

[Old55]

Ten years ago in Subic, I drank two SM

[BobNChe]

Lee, I am not sure how you got "excuse by alcohol" out of my post as the small mention I made about it was only saying that we've all had our day. But reading forums is like that at times! Been there and done that! theMason, I agree that the culture here is dog eat dog and that Filipinos will screw over other Filipinos as well as foreigners. It's sad, but true. Also that it's not only the Phils where these things happen.I'm pretty sure that this incident was not something petty as the individual concerned has been in the Phils a long time and speaks pretty fluent Tagalog and Cebuano.

[Jollygoodfellow]

Lee, I am not sure how you got "excuse by alcohol" out of my post as the small mention I made about it was only saying that we've all had our day. But reading forums is like that at times! Been there and done that! theMason, I agree that the culture here is dog eat dog and that Filipinos will screw over other Filipinos as well as foreigners. It's sad, but true. Also that it's not only the Phils where these things happen.I'm pretty sure that this incident was not something petty as the individual concerned has been in the Phils a long time and speaks pretty fluent Tagalog and Cebuano.

I'm pretty sure that this incident was not something petty as the individual concerned has been in the Phils a long time and speaks pretty fluent Tagalog and Cebuano.

I am sure he has been in the Philippines a while and speaks the language fluently. Firstly if that is the case then he should know better and secondly his language skills probably were not at there best while intoxicated to that extent.I understand quite well if we drink too much we don't think or do things as we normally would but we all need to remember that things are different for a foreigner when in trouble in a host country.Therefor keeping out of trouble is a top priority.There is really no debate here. :AddEmoticons04230:

[Mr Lee]

There are situations where I've seen even the most mild mannered individual get a bit over the line while drinking. It's one of the pitfalls of over imbibing. I'm sure the majority of us have been there a time or two, Filipinos included I'm sure.

Lee, I am not sure how you got "excuse by alcohol" out of my post as the small mention I made about it was only saying that we've all had our day. But reading forums is like that at times! Been there and done that!

Bob, isn't that was what over imbibing is! :AddEmoticons04230: It does seem that every time one of the expats gets himself in trouble, that it is due to over imbibing and someone always says that everyone should just let it go because of that, IMO people need to learn what their limit is and stop before they reach it.Bob, while I respect your opinion, the fact that this individual knows how to speak the language and has been in the Philippines for a long time and the fact that he is many times the size of any Filipino or probably any of us, tells me that he had even less excuse to do what he did and he is very lucky to have gotten away with it. Also, he may be the nicest guy in the world when not drunk but he did get himself drunk to a point that he could not control his temper and we just cannot allow ourselves to do that because there are just too many things that happen to us in the Philippines that get us upset and IMO we have to be extra careful when we are there to not let those things push us over our limit of self control. And last, lets put this in proper prospective, was what he did worth the extra couple of dollars that the driver may have tried to charge him? After all the driver did not try to steal his wallet, touch his manhood or even insult his wife, he took him for a ride because he knew he was drunk and if he had not been so drunk, then I suspect he never would have taken him for a ride, and then since he is a long time resident and has connections, there was always the LTO or the police to complain to and he did not have to resort to violence.

[jamesmusslewhite]

It is funny that as we are influenced by the intoxication of liquid courage, and we are standing 10 foot tall and bullet proof, that we expose just how small we really are.

[BobNChe]

There is only one reason why I'm even posting about this at all. I know him pretty well, consider him a friend, and do not believe that he would do such a thing without sufficient provocation. That's it in a nutshell.

[Mr Lee]

There is only one reason why I'm even posting about this at all. I know him pretty well, consider him a friend, and do not believe that he would do such a thing without sufficient provocation. That's it in a nutshell.

Bob, we thank you for giving balance to this thread and for standing up for your friend. :AddEmoticons04230: Sometimes we all find it hard to believe that our otherwise mild mannered friends could do things that they often do only during moments of being totally drunk. While everything that I have heard about your friend is positive and he is said to be a very nice person by everyone who seems to know him, nothing short of the driver touching my wife would have gotten such a response from me, drunk or not drunk. I too have often been cheated in the Philippines, but I have also often been cheated within the US and I never let those times make me go beyond raising my voice at the person who tried to cheat me. I live by the rule of equal force and even if a smaller Filipino were to take a swing at me, I would try to respond by blocking it and trying to hurt his arm in the process, but I would not strike him. Now if a person with a knife or a gun tried to hurt my wife, myself or a friend who was in my company, then my response might go way beyond that if circumstances permitted without putting anyone in danger, but I pray that day never comes. As for your friend, I just hope he learned a lesson and will never do that again, no matter what the circumstances, because IMO he could easily kill a smaller person without even trying and that would be something that he probably could not easily work his way out of and that he would have to live with the rest of his life even if he did.

[Bruce]

There is only one reason why I'm even posting about this at all. I know him pretty well, consider him a friend, and do not believe that he would do such a thing without sufficient provocation. That's it in a nutshell.

Bob, we thank you for giving balance to this thread and for standing up for your friend. :AddEmoticons04230: Sometimes we all find it hard to believe that our otherwise mild mannered friends could do things that they often do only during moments of being totally drunk. While everything that I have heard about your friend is positive and he is said to be a very nice person by everyone who seems to know him, nothing short of the driver touching my wife would have gotten such a response from me, drunk or not drunk. I too have often been cheated in the Philippines, but I have also often been cheated within the US and I never let those times make me go beyond raising my voice at the person who tried to cheat me. I live by the rule of equal force and even if a smaller Filipino were to take a swing at me, I would try to respond by blocking it and trying to hurt his arm in the process, but I would not strike him. Now if a person with a knife or a gun tried to hurt my wife, myself or a friend who was in my company, then my response might go way beyond that if circumstances permitted without putting anyone in danger, but I pray that day never comes. As for your friend, I just hope he learned a lesson and will never do that again, no matter what the circumstances, because IMO he could easily kill a smaller person without even trying and that would be something that he probably could not easily work his way out of and that he would have to live with the rest of his life even if he did.

Look buddy, I have no idea who you are or how you got into Lee's body, but anyone who knows Lee and knows where the C 4 canal is (where the bodies are), can easily disprove who you are. Either you are some low life computer genius hacker how has stolen Lee's web ID or some mind channeling alien. In any event stop! Stop I say... demons flee! Does anyone here know how to get ahold of Linda Blair??? We need an exorcist and fast! Don't worry Lee, if you can hear me buddy, we will help you. Earlier today you admitted in another post that you were starting to forget things... and now you are (gasp) being NICE to people. We miss the old Lee. Come back... come back.... into the light, come into the light.... Really Lee, cut it out. It is not nice to mess with our heads. We know you are just faking it, aren't you??? Lee??? right? just faking it........ I hope.