It's Not Right to be Rude to Customers

This staff from a certain fashion store was really rude. I went to this store to look for a dress for a wedding party. If you have read my post about skinny jeans, you know that shopping for clothes is not exactly an enjoyable activity for me. The store was on clearance sale, so I hoped to find my dress there. My mom and sister found something they wanted. We went to the fitting room together. 

As always, my mom wanted me to go with her inside the cubicle. Before I could go with her, the staff blocked my way and told me to wait outside. My mom told her she needed my assistance. The staff didn't relent and frowned at us. I couldn't do anything, so I waited at the entrance. There were a handful of ladies waiting in line. Some customers got confused and thought I was falling in line too. After a few minutes, my mom poked her head out of the cubicle and asked me to help her. The staff frowned as I walked to my mom's cubicle.

After that, I left the fitting room to continue my search for a dress. I found a red one. I tried it on, but I needed my sister's nod of approval. I peeked outside but she wasn't in the fitting room. I changed back to my clothes. I handed the dress back to staff so she could put it on the rack behind her. She didn't reach out. Instead, she bossily pointed to the rack, which means I had to hang the dress myself. I obeyed her and immediately regretted not fighting back. I thought to myself, "Wait a minute. It wasn't right! She was being rude to me!" But, if I made a scene, who knows if someone would videotape my screaming and hair-pulling and post it on Youtube?

I went out feeling terrible. My sister was waiting for me on the couch. She noticed something was wrong. I told her what happened, which got her very furious. I learned that the staff had been rude to my mom and my sister too when they tried on more clothes. She and my mom marched to the fitting room. My sister asked the staff for her name, which made her nervous. She refused to give her name and immediately defended her actions even if my sister hadn't said anything yet. "Your name," my sister insisted. She said her name as softly as she could. They asked for the manager but h/she wasn't there. They promised they'd come back.

My sister is like a man. She is quiet and wants to avoid conflict as much as she can even if she's been wronged. So what she did for me is really awesome. It felt good! We left the store and had our lunch. I decided that I wanted that dress after all. We went back and I was glad the dress was still there! We pretended to look for the manager to give the staff a scare lol. The truth is, we didn't care anymore. We had confronted her and that is all I wanted.

I think the staff was simply following the rules. I have no problems with that AS LONG as she did it nicely and respectfully. But frowning at customers, stopping a daughter from assisting her mom to zip her dress, and being bossy to a customer is downright rude. It's not right.

It’s Not Right: Speaking Foreign Language to Undereducated Compatriots

a cool sign I've stumbled upon on Flickr.com

While waiting for my order to arrive in a middle-class restaurant, I overheard a woman speaking to a waiter in English. I could sense the uneasiness from the waiter who clearly wasn’t knowledgeable in the language. She would raise her voice a bit, asking him if he understood her. The waiter just nodded meekly.

In the Philippines, people who speak English appear to be educated, rich, or high-class. In some families, parents speak English with their kids to help them master the language. In schools, English is the medium of instruction. Some Filipinos are used to speaking English either because of their heritage (e.g. half-American) or their environment. Unfortunately, a high percentage of Filipinos only understand basic English, and not all of them are fluent.

I could not understand why this woman had to speak English to the waiter when she was actually speaking Filipino with her family members who were with her. It was not only unnecessary, but also inconsiderate and condescending.

At work, our blue-collar workers would always complain about a certain manager of a company that we had business transactions with. She would always speak English to them. Most of our men haven’t graduated from high school. Ironically, the manager speaks Filipino with her bosses, her colleagues, and the rest of the people who are more educated than our workers.

I am very blessed to have graduated from college and to know the English language. I will try to be considerate with people who can only speak Filipino fluently.

It’s Not Right: Taking Too Much Food from Someone’s Lunchbox

these siomai look very appetizing
Source: debbietingzon on Flickr.com

In my first job where I tutor children, I would rarely go out for lunch. The kids kept on flocking in and I got too busy to leave my table. I would bring a few pieces of huge siomai from home. They won’t make me full, but they were easier to eat and I could eat them in my seat.

In the Philippines, we have this custom of saying “kain tayo” (let’s eat) before eating in the presence of other people. It is a polite way of “inviting” other people to eat with you. Most people would just nod or give you back a smile without accepting you “offer”. So when I opened my tiny lunchbox, I told my colleagues “kain tayo”. Knowing that my lunch was not really enough for me, my male colleague declined. However, the female colleague took a piece of my siomai. I think she’d never tasted siomai before because as soon she finished her siomai, she asked me for another one. My male colleague sarcastically told this teacher not to take my food anymore because it wasn’t really enough for me. She replied with a “but I can’t really help it because it was so delicious” and took another piece. I was too shy (and too shock) to pull back my lunchbox from this middle-aged teacher.

I went home having a painfully growling stomach. It was one of the worst feelings I’ve experienced. But being shown no care by my own colleague felt much worse.

When someone offers me food, I would check first if he has more than enough for himself before taking one (or I would simply nod and give him my sweetest smile).

It’s Not Right: Shaking Legs inside a Movie House

the little girl with her dad in a movie house

My family went to a movie house one weekend. In the middle of the movie, my dad got fidgety and kept on glancing at his back. Someone sitting behind him was shaking his legs. Movie houses are a bit cramped, so it’s easy to touch the chair in front with your feet. This man didn’t want to keep his feet within his personal space and had them touching the back of my dad’s chair while shaking. It felt like being kicked at the back. Despite my dad’s giving him lingering nasty looks, the man still continued to move his legs, ignoring my very annoyed dad. As revenge, my dad tried to sit taller. His butt was literally raised from his chair so he could block as much view as possible. The man stopped shaking to shift his position, but he would go back to his leg shaking when my dad lowered his behind to his chair.

The next time I go to movie houses, I will keep my limbs within my personal space. I will try not to bother other people who are trying to enjoy a movie.

It’s Not Right: Staffs Looking Down on Customers

I heard this story from a friend. This friend always accompanies his grandma on most of her shopping sprees. One time, they went to a tiangge (bazaar) and were happily examining the different products displayed in one stall. The staff, thinking that the grandma was poor, muttered to herself, “I don’t think they’d buy anything.” I have seen this grandma and there is no way she looks close to a beggar. The comment is loud enough for the duo to hear. Offended, the grandma angrily told the owner of the store that she would buy everything in that stall on one condition – the owner had to sack that impolite staff.

I’ve also experienced this kind of unfair treatment in some stores. I’m always in t-shirt and jeans, but when I enter a more “high-end” store, some staffs would cross their arms and look at me with a huge frown on their faces. But when I did buy something, they would totally transform into friendly, respectful staffs that they were expected to be.  In some occasions that I did dress up, these staffs would always greet me even without my buying anything.

I think staffs are supposed to “serve” their customers. They shouldn’t judge their customers based on their appearance. More importantly, they shouldn’t offend them.

It’s Not Right: Blocking People’s Access to Public Amenities

the little girl trying to wash her hands as a woman applies lipstick

Every time I go to public toilets, there would always be women fixing up in front of the sinks. What’s worse is they would not let other people wash their hands even if they’re not using the sink. Saying “excuse me” wouldn’t do the trick. I had to be in an uncomfortable position to reach the faucet. Even seeing me having a hard time won’t even make these ladies move. I really hate these types of women and I would love to just wipe my dirty hands on them LOL.

The next time I go to public toilets, I will make sure that I don’t block people’s access to these public amenities that are supposed to be for everyone.

It’s Not Right: Making Fun of Other People’s Wastes

Note: This is the first entry of my “it’s not right” series. It is about the negative things I see people do. My blog has always been cheerful and positive; however, this is not about my whines or pessimism about the human nature. To me, writing these will serve as a reminder to myself so I won’t commit the same mistakes to other people. I want to become the best little girl that I can be. Hopefully, some people will also find my posts helpful.:) I will use the tag “it’s not right” for this type of post.



I was in a fastfood chain, having my lunch before going home. Since I had drunk a lot of fluids, I had to go to the toilet to pee. When I entered the toilet, it was dirty and stinky. I didn’t want to go in, but I had to commute for another 30 minutes or so before I could reach home. So in I went. I went into the cleanest cubicle I could find.

As I was peeing inside, a group of girls came in. They stopped chatting when they got in. I think the pungent smell had made them stop. After the pause, they said “obvious!” almost in unison. They said it loud enough for me to hear. I didn’t understand what they meant. When I was finally done, I got out and passed by these girls. They looked meaningfully at me then at each other as they giggled.

When I was back to my table, I realized what they meant. They said “obvious!” because it was obvious that I was the one who produced the foul-smelling odour that had spread in the toilet. It wasn’t fair! :(

First, it was already stinky before I stepped into the empty toilet. Someone must have dropped the bomb before I got in. Second, defecating is a human nature. You can’t laugh at someone because they had upset their stomach and had no choice but to do their business in a dirty public toilet. Unless their wastes have sweet-smelling odour, these students have no right to make fun of other people’s waste. Grrrr…