Pilipino kah?


Photo is a discreet shot with my mobile device while I pretended to use the wi-fi at the Starbucks in Mira Mesa. The place is the only Starbucks I have gone into that did not have a wi-fi. I did not bother to ask for access because I went there just for the purpose of taking a picture of fellow Filipinos playing cards in the vicinity.
I moved from one unoccupied table to another while a young Asian guy, probably a Filipino, smiled to me in acknowledgement. His parents probably signed him up to a work permit before he was 18 while finishing high school and keeps working as barista to help himself get through college.
"Hello, po!"
If he was Dear John, the boypren, he would have flashed a toothy boyish smile: "Hi Auntie..."
Dear John lives in the same zip code and I could tell how closely knit he is with his family. On occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries, the family just like many Filipinos in San Diego go to casinos. I have this aversion to gambling and would never go to casinos on my own free will. Richard had to coax me to go with him to Pechanga, a resort and casino about 6o miles north of where we live. I would not have gone to Las Vegas if Q did not plan her wedding in there.
Seeing Filipinos playing cards in the sidewalk vicinity of Starbucks reinforces my aversion to gambling and reminds me of the years I lived in the urban poor areas of Manila. Urban poor areas are characterized by congestion, poverty and slum dwellings and could be the worst part of a third world like the Philippines.
I could not tell if the card players of Mira Mesa Starbucks were aware that they are not in the Philippines. Not even am immigrant status nor a citizenship could take Philippines out of their system.

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