Kamusta Kabayan?
As an introductory post, I want to impart my vision of United Pinoys in America or U.P.A. for short. Please note that this idea could potentially extend into a global scope (e.g. United Pinoys in the World) but the initial focus serves as a proof of concept to test the waters, get some traction, and spread the word out.
Also, since this is my first post, I want to write a few things about me but do not want to bore you to death, to the point that you’d rather stare at the wall than keep reading my article. In a true blogging 2.0 fashion, here’s a little tag cloud that includes snippets of information about me.
Back to the UPA idea…So, I have been in the U.S. for about seven years now, and have had both wonderful and not-so wonderful experiences with my fellow kababayans here. I won’t dwell too much on the negative side, but the quick takeaway is, I want to ask people to back me up and put that dreaded “crab mentality” disease to rest. You can also tell that I just recently watched the movie Pay It Forward.
Let’s take things one step at a time shall we? It’s a simple request. If you see a fellow pinoy (that you do not know) at a local store or a karaoke party, all you’ve got to do is smile and say, “Kamusta Kabayan?” That’s it. It’s funny but I once did this when I was in California, only to realize that the other person was in fact Thai, and not Filipino. So you might get into that kind of experience too, but you know, it’s worth it if you are Definitely Filipino.
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That’s the attitude Corlina!
Still, I won’t give up.
If one out of one hundred wakes up feeling positive and starts being nicer to others, I’m okay with that.
Mike
Ouch, I did that many times, an instance where I approached someone when I went to Vegas. I said hi and introduced myself, sad to say, she looked at me and just walked away…
@ the supermarket in Glendale, AZ. I was so tickled to see someone from the Philippines, introduced myself and I was blown away,lol. Been to diff. states for vacation and yeah, I’m not that lucky in making friends. Some of them even pretended they doesn’t speak Tagalog at all. But you can tell they do because I’ve heard them talk before I even approached them:-))
I was appalled to be treated that way. Considering a fellow Filipina and I was just trying to be friendly.
The crab mentality that you were talking about, it does exist and I don’t think it will ever fade away. As long as there are people who will try to pull others down to make themselves feel better it will never stop. It is prevalent in just about every environment, ranging from schools to sports teams and business offices to politics.And yeah, most especially among Filipinos:-))
But then, we can try…