Philippines

Landmark = worst customer service

/ iamsupercarla / Leave a comment

Before I blog about something fantastic,I almost forgot about this little thing that happened over the week.

I’ve scheduled my Plana Forma classes over the week and unfortunately, I forgot to bring clothes.  I guess that’s the pitfall of a new exercise routine; it needs breaking into.  So instead of missing the class (which will most likely form a very ugly habit), I decided to run to Landmark and grab a pair of pants and top to suffice for the day’s workout.

And the epic fail decision started there.  I know SM is no step up, but I should have just gone there.

The saleslady was so curt.  I weas asking for my size and I swear I saw her eyes roll at me.  I asked for a medium top.  Threw it in my hand.  I asked for a medium pant.  Gave it to me without even looking.  So in my head, hey, maybe she’s having a bad day.  I mean, I would too if I had to work through lunch, so I ignored it.

After fitting the items, I decided to get them.  Cheap but nice, will do for later.  Landmark’s practice is having an order slip filled out by the consignee’s saleslady.  But when I went out of the dressing room, she wasn’t there.  Waited for five minutes.  Nada.  So I went straight to the cashier, knowing that the cashier will call for her and have her fill out the order slip.

Then we waited at the cashier for FIFTEEN EFFING MINUTES.  Seryoso.  As in!  The bagger lady was calling her area, but no one was picking up.  So she sent someone to pick her up.  The wait took such a long time that the cashier started chatting me up, feeble attempts to make me comfortable.  When the bagger lady couldn’t handle the ringing, she ran to where that saleslady was.  When she ran back, she muttered, “Sus, nakikipagdaldalan lang pala.”

It.  Is.  Infuriating.  The next scene just played like this.

Me:  *not looking*
Saleslady:  Ma’am thank you for your purchase.  Cash or card po?
Me:  *still not looking, hands over card to cashier*
Saleslady:  *copies details of purchase in order slip*
Saleslady:  *hands order slip to cashier for processing*
Saleslady:  Ma’am sa susunod po, kuha tayo ng order slip para mabilis po.
Me:  In that case, *turns to her and does the Cherie Gil look (aka head to toe, brow raised)* next time din, huwag kang magtataka kung bakit dito ka nagtatrabaho at kung bakit yan lang ang responsibilidad mo dito.

BAM.  FIERCE.  The entire counter was silent for a while and I swear I saw her tear up.  In my head, it’s so simple!  You are a saleslady, so take care of every potential sale.  I’ve been to customer service and I was not ever that crappy.  Come on!

Of course I felt horrid right after I said it, but I said it already.  No need for me to play angel when I clearly meant what I said.  It’s just sad when the simplest of tasks cannot be performed. 

Wala lang.  I just now know for a fact that I can’t speed shop at Landmark. SM Makati na lang (note the specified location).  There, I just say I’m in a rush, so can you find me this this this in this size and this color.  Fifteen minutes and I was out of there.  Sa Landmark, fifteen minutes, wait period pa lang.  Anu ber.

So there.  Customer service is customer service.  If people can demand so much from their government workers and employees, then maybe these people should also demand the same from themselves.  Just saying.

Action reaction

/ iamsupercarla / 1 Comment

Why is the Catholic church taking it as a personal offense should the Reproductive Health Bill be made into a law? 

This has always confused me.  From what I’ve learned when I was still in school, there has always been a separation between the Church and the State.  The problem is our statesmen have never shied away from declaring their profound beliefs and faiths.  In my head, it was an evident ploy to lure in the followers of the same faith in favoring that politician.  And don’t freaking moral compass me on this one.  You can use your compass without having to declare that you are a Protestant or a Christian or a Catholic.

The lines were blurred because these politicians kept quoting the Bible, passages that they say guide them into making the laws or whatever bullshit reasoning they manage to come up with. HELL NO you do NOT get to bring the Bible on this one.

Our lawmakers create laws that will benefit the REPUBLIC.  Not their faith.  The people.  Not their co-devotees.  I have nothing against religion, but really, you’re delaying a very significant and life changing law because the Bishops don’t like it?  What the fuck is that?

Why are you keeping the Filipinos from being more informed?  It’s not a secret; PREMARITAL SEX IS PREVALENT.  It’s as common as Starbucks, as natural as sugar in coffee.  AND IT DIDN’T HAPPEN JUST IN MY GENERATION.  My generation is just more open to it.  Your generation is just hypocritic to not admit there were sex crazed teens in your time.  Prolly because it was you, prolly because the hippie era was “flowers” to you.  Ever seen the movie Forrest Gump?  Almost Famous?  That Thing You Do?  READ:  sex in hotels, drugs everywhere, not to mention casual flings and more than occasional boners.  Really?  We’re liberated? 

We’re not any more liberated than you were during your decade.  We just talk about it now.

My reaction to this piece of news is this violent because I find it so stupid to delay something as important as this.  Do you not see the number of children in the streets?  Or the number of families living under bridges, along creeks and sometimes in road islands?  OKAY LANG KAYO?  How can you think that additional beings in the country is actually beneficial to us?  HINDI NA NILA MAPAKAIN MGA SARILI NILA, GUSTO NIYO PA SILA MAG-ANAKAN? 

Some people talaga are so hibang!  Volume in manpower is only beneficial when they are HEALTHY AND EDUCATED.  The children we have now ARE NOT.  And we no longer have homes to put them in.  Adoption is not as widely promoted here as it is in Western countries, mainly because middle-class to upper-class families CANNOT AFFORD ANOTHER MOUTH TO FEED.  HOW MUCH MORE THE POOR?

My gehd.  I am so annoyed.  Obviously.  PASS THE RH BILL ALREADY.  MAKE FILIPINOS SMARTER AND MAKE THE FILIPINO FAMILY MORE ABLE.  GIVE THEM THE ELBOW ROOM THEY NEED TO PROVIDE FOR THE REST OF THEIR MEMBERS.

Hindi yung anak lang ng anak everywhere and we’ll all sing that the children are our future.  Wala ngang bahay o damit o pagkain, future future ka pa jan. 

Leche.  Mga bobo.  Ugh.

The challenge of keeping the faith

/ iamsupercarla / 3 Comments

It’s all over the news now.  Another bombing has left the Filipinos in a state of disbelief.  I’m going to be honest:  when Lala Flores’ daughter Danica Magpantay won the Ford Supermodel of the Year 2011, I had hopes of the Philippines being the highlight of southeast Asia, having natural beauties and unaltered realities win competitions like this.

Then I remember the carnappings.  Then the oil price hike.  Then the fact that another journalist was slain, the 142nd media killing since 1986.  Then the littlest and biggest of issues in cyberspace, where apparently opinions are paid for.  Then the hope fizzled.

For those who follow me on Twitter, I bet you would notice that as each tragedy is reported in the news, my automatic response is that I am saddened that this is the place I have to bring my kids to.  And this is not to say that I am pregnant (because I am not) or that I am planning to be (because I am not).  I say so because it is the fact:  this is the world we are going to bring our kids to.

And it’s days like these when it’s so hard to keep the faith.  That the human being, the person, the individual will exercise his free will and choose intellect and wisdom over misdirected passions.  That the government will fund better education so this kind of thinking — blowing up buses and shit — will not be the main exhibition of dismay and disagreement. 

But sometimes, faith can just take you so far.  I am seriously afraid that my niece Chuchi will grow up at a time when buses just spontaneously explode and prices spike overnight and her necklace will be snatched as she walks to school and her favorite broadcaster will die before she ever gets to meet him/her.  I am afraid that my future child will have questions as to why people kill people, why Mindanao is the richest in natural resources and yet we can’t find peace with them, why the government is richer than the people, why she is in so much debt at the very moment she’s born.  And I won’t have the answers.

I used to find equanimity when Oscar nods are announced, thinking that the arts is something that people can still count on, that bodies like the Academy will always celebrate the good in people.  But last night was extra difficult, especially when at 2 in the morning, the bus bomb death toll rose to 5.

So you see, it’s really challenging… keeping the faith.  Right now, my only prayer would have to be for the strength to rise to it.

Willing Willie is Wowowee on TV5

/ iamsupercarla / 3 Comments

(Side note:  I could resize that second logo to the smallest size possible and  still remain legible to the naked eye.  Compensating for something much eh?)

Finally, they said it.

It’s no surprise really.  It’s bound to happen.  Willie Revillame left ABS-CBN and left with a closing statement, saying that he’s putting up his own production company to produce his own show.  That should be a hint right there.

Basically, Willing Willie (TV5) is Wowowee.  I’ve watched it (yes, I know, I’m disgusting, echos, chaka, jologs, jejemon, yadayadayada) when I was left with no choice (bus ride home) and as a former reviewer of noontime shows, THERE WAS NOTHING NEW IN IT!

What a rip off.  So, I applaud ABS-CBN’s copyright infringement case against everyone involved.  Hah!  In yo fes.

This is what Willing Willie copied from Wowowee:

(1) Willing Willie’s opening song and/or dance number led by its host;

(2) Wowowee‘s “Biga-Ten” versus Willing Willie’s “Big Time Ka”;

(3) Wowowee’s “Willie of Fortune” versus Willing Willie’s “Willtime Bigtime,” which contains portions where the contestants tell their personal stories and showcase their talents before they sing or play a trivia game;

(4) the dancers/characters of Wowowee are also appearing in Willing Willie, most notable of whom is April “Congratulations” Gustilo; and

(5) the set design, stage, studio viewers’ seats lay-out, lighting and camera angles of Willing Willie are also strikingly similar to Wowowee.

And that’s basically EVERYTHING.

I’m quite excited to see how this turns out.  I wish I can say I feel for the poor, and how Willie was apparently scolded too much that he resorted to LOAs and in the end, rescinding the contract, but I just can’t.  Wowowee, even if it was hosted and “alaga” by Willie, is still ABS-CBN’s creative team’s brainchild.

And mama hates it when you steal her brain…. child.

Got the news from PEP.

Kay Ganda? Maybe they meant Most Dangerous

/ iamsupercarla / Leave a comment

The killing of 57 civilians and media people last year made the Philippines “the most dangerous place in the world for journalists,” said Frank La Rue, UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.  (Source:  Philippine Daily Inquirer)

I remember a foreigner saying the Philippines has one of the freest press in the world.  I guess not anymore.

For a complete read on the article (hence, more depressing facts), click here.

Please do not forget the people who were murdered a year ago.  Do not forget them, their stories, their families.  Too many people have forgotten already.  Please do not be one of them.