Culture is a funny thing sometimes. In some ways, living in Manilla is not so different to anywhere else we've lived (other than the permanent tropical summer of course!). In other ways, it's vastly different. One thing that is hard to get used to is that nobody says no .... ever!
I went to the grocery store the other day and asked if they carried Pepperidge Farm's Goldfish crackers. "Yes Mam" came the reply. Oh good! Where can I find them? The man helpfully pointed to the aisle and off I went. Did I find Goldfish? Nope. Could I find the guy who helped me? Nope. Ok, no problem. I asked someone else. "Yes Mam" came the reply .... off I went again and still no goldfish. The important thing that I had forgotten is that nobody ever says no. "Yes Mam" does not actually mean what it says. It means "I have no idea what you are talking about". The Filipinos are very lovely people and really don't like to say no, so they just say yes. They also don't like confrontation ... smart people! ... so the first guy I asked was probably just hiding from me. I've learned that you have to watch the enthusiasm that the "yes" is given with to judge if it really does mean yes! If they had just said no, I would have saved alot of time!
Life is all about learning, and learning is what I'm doing :o)
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