Market Prices fly high when I buy with my American Boyfriend
By: Benilda Ocampo (10 December 2009, Quezon City, Philippines)
I have an American boyfriend. He visited me once in the Philippines to spend Christmas and New Year with me and my family. Before Christmas, he needed to buy a tool in the market because he needs to open the CPU of my computer. I don't know exactly what kind of tool he needs but he said he once saw it in "bangketa" (stall) in the Philippine market. So we both went and found five bangketas where we can find the tool he needs. I can remember that the price of that small tool is 60 Philippine Pesos. We went to the first stall and asked how much is that tool. He looked at my american boyfriend, smiled little, paused little, and now comes his reply, PhP350. (What!??) I didn't say a word. We said thank you and moved in the next stall. The seller said Php250 (What??! again). The same answer from 1st to 4th stall until we reached the 5th stall. The man told me, "Madam, hindi po ako marunong mag-ingles pero kung itong tool na ito ang kailangan niyo, ang totoong bentahan niyan eh 60 pesos po." (The man said: "Madam, I cannot speak good english but if you need this tool, the real selling price is 60 pesos.) We bought it and went home.
The next day, we want to eat tilapia (a kind of fish). I told my boyfriend, we will make an honesty test. How? My boyfriend and I need to separate in the fish market and meet in the middle later on. I went to ask how much is a kilo of this fish. The old woman said Php65. I went where my boyfriend is and told him, go back to that same woman where I asked the price of tilapia. She said Php65. Go and ask her again. This time it's my boyfriend who asked. The old woman said, "95 pesos, sir!" (oh-oh-oh)
It was almost new year and my boyfriend wants to try the typical noise Filipinos make during new year - light fountain, long cords of booms and bangs, and others. There were six stalls. We went to the first, the normal price which I know is Php100, but the seller said 350 pesos, sir! The other seller said, "it's new year, we need some money, PhP300, sir!" The next seller said, "share us your dollars, very cheap, PhP275, sir!" They don't even talk to me. Everything is "sir!". Their mentality was always the same that when you have an american boyfriend, he has dollars, he can buy at any price, everything is cheap. We just went to the last row. One woman said, "I want to go home and join my family in the new year. The normal price for this is PhP100 and I give you for PhP95 if you would take more." My boyfriend nodded at me, we took it all!
These are just instances of common Filipino mentality along the market areas. I always shake my head that me and my boyfriend cannot just normally buy in the market without these kinds of immediate inflation in few seconds from one stall to another. huh! Although in a group of dishonest persons, there always stands one honest person, one honest seller who sells the right price whoever her customer is.
I want to close my eyes everytime my boyfriend stares at me when prices are going up everytime he buys with me. All I can say is, "I am sorry. These are just few of what you need to see but not everybody is like that. To avoid it, we can also buy in the groceries because these are already fix prices."
It was on and on and on like that...eventually my boyfriend always relates me to this kind of Filipino mentality. Of course I know myself that I am not like what he thinks. But everytime he sees these Filipino practice, can I still defend them? Not.
My boyfriend returned to the US and few months later we broke up because he cannot erase in his mind that what he saw with my fellow Filipinos in the market is the same attitude that I might have.
Few years later, he had proven that I am not. He tried to come back to me but I already denied him. Perhaps the Filipino who reads this with that kind of Filipino mentality will say "sayang". But with a clever Filipino, he will say, "correct".