That is SOOO not Pinoy...

For the longest time, I thought my physical characteristics were typically Pinoy. The past week, though, taught me otherwise.

I'd understand if Foreigners would mistake me for being something other than Pinoy: (When I was i Bangkok, Americans thought I was Thai. When I was in Hat Yai, Thais thought I was Singaporean. When I was in Prague, Slavs thought I was Slavic. When I was in Spain, Spaniards thought I was Spanish. And the list goes on...)

It's a totally different thing if even your own countrymen can't identify you as one of their own.

One of my habits is to say "sorry," "excuse me," and "pardon," whenever the person talks to me babbles something unintelligible. This is so not Pinoy. We all know that if a Pinoy doesn't hear what the other person is saying, they'd say: "HA?!?" So whenever a saleslady, fastfood crew or even a teller would ask me something and i'd say "pardon", they'd suddenly talk to me in English and treat me like an American.

In a span of one week, there have been 5 bizarre incidents involving me and fellow Pinoys who thought I wasn't a Filipino. They were experiences SO WEIRD, that I have to write them down. This is just one of them.

The KFC incident: I was looking for a seat at the KFC outlet near Lan Kwai Fong. A group of elderly Pinays had an extra seat and offered it to me. The moment she said: "Come, come sit here," I knew they thought I was a foreigner.

There I was, sitting with 4 rowdy Pinays. I was still waiting for my Zinger sandwich so I didn't start eating yet. So I sat there, staring at my criss-cut fries and large drink.

Pinay 1 says: "Go ahead, eat na."

I said: "I'm still waiting for my sandwich, it's taking so long."

Pinay 1 says: "Oh, ok. (turns to Pinay 2) Ano ba naman itong KFC na 'to. Sandwich lang, wala pa. Hindi tuloy makakain 'tong bata."

From the restroom, in walks Pinay 3. She looks at me and turns to Pinays 1 and 2:

Pinay 3 says: "O, bakit hindi pa kumakain yan. Huwag niyo sabihing hinihintay niya tayong umalis bago siya kumain. Ang arte ha..."

Pinay 2 says: "Hindi naman. Wala pa kasi yung sandwich niya. Mukhang hindi sanay na hindi kumpleto ang pagkain bago magsimula."

At that point, I couldn't bear tell them that I understood every word they said. So I just shut my trap and smiled at whatever they said.

Finally, my sandwich arrives, and I start to chow down. At the same time, the Pinays decide to leave. But before they go, they all bid goodbye to me:

Pinay 3 says: "You enjoy your meal. Sorry if we Filipinas are very noisy. We just like to talk and talk."

And I just smiled.