stupidity, ignorance or what?

Most of the workers in the Philippines are either stupid or uneducated. The past week i have dealt with electricians, the security guards, public transportation driver, maids and grocery service.

Let's start with the electrician. The first one who arrived to the house to check on the water heater and wirings seems to be very good. In fact, he checked the electricity with his tool and has even given us not only a quote but also what the problem is. However, my dad thought he should get a 2nd opinion because the solution the first one suggested seems complicated because it involves changing wires, rearranging wires blah blah. Couple of days later, another electrician came over. The odd thing was he went to the heater, and just wrote down what we have said yet gave us quote without even bothering to check if it has power or not and in fact what he said was the opposite of what the previous electrician has said. Well.. it's up to my dad to decide on what is believable or not.

Next is the security guards, in our village, when someone comes. Whether it's relatives or a messenger, they would call the house the person is going to give clearance to their entries. The past week, my mother had a lunch meeting at the house with other guests and has given the list to the security guards to allow their entry without calling the house. However, even with the list, they kept calling the house. 2nd, there was a car who they had to stop because of no sticker and so we had to wait. Wouldn't it be logical for them to allow us to enter (with sticker) to the other side of the gate when it's not being used?

Public transportation drivers.. ah the worst of all. the ones who belches dirt and pollutes the air... the one that makes you cough when you're walking the dogs in a very nice park. Also, the ones that drives you crazy when they are mindlessly and heartlessly driving in the city. I think that these drivers should take a retest. They have no idea what right of way means. They cut in when they are not supposed to. The cabs, even if there is a rule (tho i've heard some say, law) that they cannot reject any passengers at all, they reject them because their excuse is that it's traffic. Don't they know that they cause traffic because of how they drive? 2nd, the cabs never gives change and sometimes ask for an extra 50 pesos because of the traffic. 3rd, they complain about the traffic saying we should pass this way blah blah despite the orders of the client. 4th, they should respect the client because they are getting paid based on the meter. All these public transport also irritates others because they stop in the middle of nowhere because of a passenger. It could be because the passenger is there or there's no bus/jeep/taxi stop. If there is a stop, then they should stop where they are legal to do so to get passengers. Otherwise, there'll be accidents and traffics. The passengers too should also be disciplined to go to a stop to get their rides. Also, is it legal for cabs to have more than 1 passenger with different destinations? I mean they are not the bus nor the jeepneys. Cabs should only have passenger/s going to the same direction. It is great that we have a bus lane but what is irritating is that they go out of the bus lane so they could go in front of who ever is in front of them. If we private drivers cannot go to the bus lanes, then it should be the same for the bus. They should bear their own traffic as well as we do with ours.

The maids. We got our maids from the province and they work good. Of course the problem is that they can't understand filipino language that there's always miscommunication. The older one, Thelma, seems to be very lazy as she only do is ironing while watching tv. At least she's working but she hardly helps. In fact, whenever any one of us do something she just stands there and talks. It's irritating coz she never helps. She's even scared of the dogs. It's ok if they have phobia but if the dog isn't doing anything to them and we even agreed to have them tied during the day so they can be comfortable and all.. they still feel scared! However, Loni, the other maid takes initiative and never rest even when we tell her to. She just keeps cleaning and in fact i was surprised that she overcame her fear of dogs. She even joins me when i walk the dogs and it surprises me how she gets along with milo lol. Today, the most stupid thing happened wsa that mum left both of them instructions. Thelma had ot be present because she understands filipino more than loni. Mum wrapped the three meats with cling wrap so they can put it in the freezer and the other marinated in barbecue roasted and at the same time, cooking the marinade to make it into a sauce. Loni, did not put the three wrapped meat in the freezer and didn't proceed to do the sauce of the barbecue. Instead she put one meat wrapped in cling wrap in the roasting pan and when mum came home she freaked out! I would to if i saw it but this time, it's not anymore about language barrier but it's about stupidity. Who would cook with plastic? If they know not to use plastic int he microwave, why do it in roasting? AFter that, I noticed that they forgot to lock the door on their side and i had to check who's outside before locking so i called out. Both came out and asked why the door was unlocked. The thing was we just came home and no one opened the gate for us. One maid said that she went out and i was like, if you went out why didn't you open the gate. She said she didn't know. Anyway, i'm sure each household has had experiences with the maids. Our maids are so hard to feed. All they want is the sardines in tomato sauce in can or any boiled food. So whatever food we cook, paella, pasta etc.. they won't eat. Although i'm surprised they like the food i cook lol healthy veggies. Mmmm.. I pity the maids actually. They were brought to the city and for the first time they are experiencing technology used in houses here in the city. Also, they don't have common sense at all because they weren't educated. They don't have the same things we do at their province. Patience is the only way here. IF they are helping us in home service, we should also help them not only financially but also in terms of how one should think and all without degrading them.

Grocery service... the most inneficient. I don't understand why the management would allow small jobs such as baggers when they work so inneficiently. Of course there is the question of unemployment in the country. The cashier should double as a bagger. What i don't like about cashiers is that, either they have to wait for a bagger before checking the items or they check in the items then when it's collected at the end that's when they start putting it in the bag. The most efficient ways are, once the cashier passes it through the laser it should go straight to the bag. The other efficient way is for the customer to put it in the bag themselves.

These are the people that i get mixed thoughts actually. Sometimes i pity them and sometimes i get so irritated because of their actions. However, we have to remember that these people are hardworking people, but not necessarily doing smartwork. They can't do smartwork at all because of lack of exposure and education. The government providing job isn't enough. There will be growing numbers of coconut heads in the philippines if education for both public and private is not strengthened and made mandatory. The most irritating thing that i always hear from these people is them saying "Wala ng pagasa kase" or "It's hopeless" but don't they know that they are not hopeless at all because after all, they are able to work and do service despite those who actually have nothing to do.