Hospitable

My second post in the short blog series on attributes I admire in Filipinos is hospitality.  This is an attribute I first notice in my husband's family.  They would often go out of their way to do things to serve me and my husband.  To me it was amazing and shocking!  So I would say, "Allan why do they do that?"  To which he would reply, "oh that's just what they do, its normal."  And I would reply with a giggle, "ah, no its not, that is not normal"  But it was exactly this attribute (that my husband called "normal") that made it a little easier to board that plane, move here and live among them.
 
I was trying to decide what to call this attribute.  At first I thought "service".  But that word has a sense of coldness to it, a motivation of duty.  And this attribute I admire has a warmth to it.  So I have decided to call it "hospitality".

HOSPITABLE - receiving or treating guests or strangers warmly and generously; characterized by or betokening warmth and generosity towards guests or strangers

How do you capture hospitality in a picture?  It was a little tricky so the pictures I have are a bit limited, but I think they are sufficient to highlight this attribute I admire so much.

Customer service looks different here than in the States.  Partly I believe its because they value hospitality so much and it comes through in all areas of their lives.  Take McDonald's as an example.  In the States you order your food and stand to the side as they fill your order.  When they are done they shout out your order for you to come and get it.  Here you go and sit down and then bring it to you.  And do they give you a number?  No.  Instead this McDonald's writes down a description of you so that they can find you and bring it to your table.  I guess this day I was wearing a blue blouse and was holding my baby.  

When Allan and I went to the movies we decided to order some snacks before the movie started.  The man at the food court asked us if we wanted him to bring us our food to our seats inside the theatre.  Even Allan was shocked at this one.  We said sure!  So we went in and took our seats and he came in later and brought us our order.  I pulled out my camera and took a quick picture of him walking away, just for this blog post.  :)

Since we are on the topic of food how about we talk about delivery?  You can get all sorts of things delivered to your house.  Meat, milk, drinking water, gas for the stove, even McDonald's!  Actually several fast food chains deliver.  How do they do it through the heavy traffic and crazy rain?  They use motorcycles and wear a rain poncho.  One delivery guy had his motorcycle break down 1/2 mile from our house.  So he walked the rest of the way to our house, in the rain, to deliver our pizza.  Here is a picture of one motorcycle used to deliver pizza.

The other day Allan and I were out running errands.  We decided to stop for a quick lunch on our way back.  I thought we stopped at a simple Chinese food restaurant.  But I was stunned when they had guards meet me at my door and cover me with an umbrella to block the sun.  If there was a man and woman they would offer the service to the woman.  I felt like a royal princess and couldn't help but smile all the way to the door.

Another attribute I admire is their high regard to the elderly.  It comes through in their hospitality.  Here if you are eldery, disabled or pregant you get your own lane in the supermarket.  And they have chairs for your to sit in while you wait.

It is not just in food service that hospitality is seen.  The other day Allan and I were visiting a church.  Trevor was particularly fussy that day so Allan was standing in the back with him.  Allan didn't have to stand long before someone came up to him and brought him a chair.

Shortly after that they came up to me and asked if I wanted to go in the back room (which was air conditioned and the main sanctuary wasn't) to be more comfortable with my baby.  

The other week my son wet his pants at school.  They changed his pants with the spare shorts I packed previously.  But they didn't send home the dirty shorts with him.  The next day I asked the teacher for his soiled pants.  She said she took it home to wash it before returning it to me!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the hot and humid weather here makes living a bit more uncomfortable.  Don't have a car, so how about instead of walking you take a pedicab (a bicycle with a side car) instead?  They will almost always make sure to have an umbrella to give you shade.

My absolute favorite people to tip are those to walk into traffic and stop the cars so you can back out.  Traffic here is heavy and congested and not as organized as in the States.  This can make a simple turn from a parking lot to a busy street quite stressful.  I often think, "oh yikes, can somebody please help me?"  To which some stranger quickly appears.... walks into the middle of traffic...stops the traffic and guides you out.  I am always happy to tip those people.

I hope this simple post has given you a small glimpse into the Filipino culture.  So if you ever have the opportunity and privledge to visit us here in the Philippines you will see that the slogans of one of the largest shopping malls, SM, is true they are always...

"Happy to Serve!"