26 September 2006

Creatures of Habit

Are there times when you automatically do something? You do not have to think to do it before doing it, and before you know it, you're doing it already. Makes sense?

I sometimes find myself pushing an imaginary pair of eyeglasses against the bridge of my nose.

Well, here's one other incident that left me dumbfounded. Last Saturday, my wife brought to my attention a problem with our electricity bill. Our landlady did not know how to charge us from her total bill. Long story. Anyways, I took our reading, our average monthly consumption, and wrote a detailed listing of the different charges and taxes associated with it.

That done, we approached our landlady to explain and pay. I did the talking which started with:
"Heto po ang computation namin. Bale kinuha ko po yung average consumption namin per month, tapos nilista ko po yung mga taxes and charges, and then ... (blah blah blah) .... ok na po?"

The landlady nodded. And so we paid and left. My wife was grinning. I thought it was because it was too easy. Then she said: "Dear, hindi nya yata naintindihan." (Dear, I don't think she understood).

"Ha? Bakit? (Why?)", I asked.

"You explained everything in english!" she said.

"No I did not!"

"Yes you did!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

So how did that happen? Do we think in the english language and that's what comes out when we try to explain something? Is it because when I usually explain things, it's with a customer and it's become second nature to talk that way? Strange huh?

14 comments:

  1. hahaha... That was soooo fun. Did you go back and re-explain it in Tagalog? I usually flick the switch in any room whether its noon or whether we have a black out. :)

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  2. Anonymous11:14 pm

    hehehe, eh ininglis mo naman pala si manang eh.... :)

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  3. Anonymous11:55 pm

    Minsan nakakapagsalita ako ng kapampangan kay KD or sa mga bata, naka tingin lang sila at walang maintindihan...hehehe.

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  4. Anonymous12:37 am

    he!he! I know, ganyan din ako kung minsan. Sometimes nga tinatagalog ko etong mister ko (eh hindi naman ako naiintindihan).

    Here's one more, when I drive, I sometimes wonder how I got from point A to point B . All of a sudden kasi, nandun na ako sa point B. Kasi its like routine, same route, same pareho.

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  5. Anonymous12:48 am

    I scare my kids by telling them all there chores in german ;)

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  6. haha, buti yun, kaya di nag reklamo di naintindihan ang english, hehehe. joke.

    pero totoo, may mga nagagawa tayo minsan kailangan ng iba para sabihin sa atin na nagawa mo or nasabi mo.

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  7. haha! ako, baliktad....kung minsan natatagalog or ilokano ko ang mga anakis ko. They just look at we weird :)

    Hi Nick, musta na?

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  8. Anonymous10:21 am

    Hehehe! I had a good laugh with your automatic-lifting-up-of-glasses :) I'v also been a victim of that after having contact lenses (my glasses are too thick) I should adapt your style of explaining in english wherever I go - great tool for bargaining I think hehehe :)

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  9. Alternati, we no longer went back because I just might unconsciously explain it in english again hehehe

    Lino: wen ah! Di kasi ako masyado marunong mag-ilocano. Parang malabo reason ko ah. hehehe

    Ann: I do that too sometimes with my boss, who is a foreigner. But he understands a lot of Filipino so ok lang in a not-so-formal way.

    Uy Leah, ako naman yung sa pagsapatos. Mamaya di ko mamalayan, tapos na! Force of habit eh?

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  10. Ric, all I know in German is Guten tag!

    Iskoo: that's true. Habits.

    JMom: hindi sila masyado marunong mag tagalog? Parang sayang naman...

    Hello Drawing with Light! Good thing there's space between my eyes or I would always poke one of my eyes with my forefinger :-)

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  11. Anonymous2:30 am

    That's so true. I've also noticed that in some of the Filipinos here. Minsan kahit sila sila lang ang nag-uusap, nag-iinglisan pa rin. Minsan naman ako kapag may kausap na puti, I always say "yung ano" in between what I am saying. I would only catch myself after I had said it.

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  12. sayang nga talaga. bunga yun ng katamaran ko :( I regret it now. So make sure Jo-lo is bilingual :)

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  13. She thought you were speaking in tongues man... Why wouldn't she just tell you to back up and speak Filipino? A cultural thing?

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  14. Anonymous11:07 am

    The same with the eyeglasses, eventhough nakasuot na ako ng contact lens lagi ko pa ring itinataas iyong invisible eyeglasses ko (lol).

    Kapag nagcha-chat ako, at may kausap akong foreigner and pinoy. Kahit na sa pinoy ako sumasagot, English pa rin.

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