No Japanese

I was walking along a street towards my place when I passed by an alley of foot and body massage clinic/spa and there an attractive lady in her 30’s ask me with her thick ‘Japanese accent’, “hwant-a ma-ssage-yi?” There were only two possibilities, she’s Japanese or I am. But neither was. She had mistaken me for a Japanese tourist, since I am in my leather shoes, winter sweatshirt, along with my SLR camera safely hanging round my neck, ready anytime to snap interesting sceneries. The on-going international flora expo nearby may have contributed to her spontaneous approach since a lot of Japanese tourists visit the site lately, along with a five-star hotel nestled along the main road.

So what’s the big deal? Obviously it was completely an honest mistake. I just realized two things though: the way we dress leaves impression of our social status. If we dress formal and elegant, it leads other people to assume we are included in Forbes’ list. If we dress casual, we’re just someone who happens to be passing by. The other thing is one’s nationality defines also one’s social status. Like if you are Japanese, almost everybody think you are rich, but in reality for some they just happened to be Japanese. The same with most Koreans in the Philippines, back home they are just common people like the color purple. The point is we should not allow ourselves to be defined by ‘social stereotyping’ rather let us define ourselves to be dignified, decent and credible individuals. In doing so, we transform to become a moral society.

The next time I pass by that same alley and the same lady approaches me again, I would stop, smile at her and tell her, “No Japanese…Watashi wa Firipin-jin desu! Xiexie!” If this happen, another blog post is on its way to be scribbled and posted.