Humor: Identifying a Filipino In The Airport

I went for a short vacation recently to the Philippines and I brought with me some American friends who were too excited to see the country.

As we queue ourselves in San Francisco Airport, my friends notice a flood of balikbayan boxes lining in that wing of the airport making an unsuspecting adult believe it is part of LBC Express or a freight cargo forwarder.  

On one side there was one family scavenging the insides of the box because of excess baggage, and thought what could be removed from inside that will make PAL stamp the seal of approval that the box is good to go.

On the other side, there was another family opening the box, it seemed like some friends came to the airport for additional stuff to be brought to their family.

My friends looked amused as these families were oblivious that people were staring at them. One friend has the guts to ask: "I heard they are doctors and nurses ... can't they afford a Samsonite or American Tourister?"

I told them, "It is not that. To tell you the truth, some of them are earning more than you do.  It is just that balikbayan box is becoming a part of the culture and a Filipino family  way of life!"

I give them the challenge, "Let's cruise around the vast San Francisco airport.  If you see a Filipino ... you tell me."  My friend took the challenge, "Oh I know now ... if I see a balikbayan box ... the person standing beside it is Filipino.

(Before I start this thread, I have qualms about what kind of perception the readers would have after reading this post. Some people might misconstrue this as an attack on us. That it is some kind of a crab mentality ploy to malign us or make fun of us.

That was not my intention. All I wanted was to learn about our real selves, and from our discussion and from your observations and examples, although some of the situations looked absurd, we discovered ourselves, and it showed us firsthand some vignettes and slices of the life of how it is to become a Filipino.

As they say, you can take the man out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the man.

Simply said: The man has acquired certain habits of thought when they lived in the Philippines. When they move elsewhere, there won’t be any easy way to make them give up these habits.)