Live in the Philippines

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A blind encounter

Safety / by

The night before last Bob and I were watching TV after we ate our dinner. It was a little after 8pm. All of a sudden Bob said he wanted to go to SM to get something. He asked me if I can go with him. It might be quicker if he will just drop me there to get the stuff he wanted and he will drive around to pick me up when I get done. SM will close at 9pm. So I said okay. Off we went.

On the way to SM, we passed by near the Ampatuan mansion, not far from there we saw a lady walking. She was cris crossing the road. From afar it looked like she’s drunk. Bob and I made a comment that whats going on with this lady “is she drunk” or what? She continually walked from one side of the road to the middle of the road. To be honest I was getting mad. In the back of my mind the lady was so drunk this early of the night? What’s going on with her kids then? Who’s watching her kid while she’s drinking?

Bob said I think hon she’s blind. I said how did you know that? Bob said its on the back of her shirt it said BLIND MASSAGE. Duh… no wonder shes cris crossing because she can’t see the road. I felt so guilty and dumb. I was so guilty of being mad at her from the distance.

Bob told me that we will give her a ride. So I open my window and asked her where she’s heading? She said that oh, its not really that far its just around the corner. She was scared to get in with us. I can’t blame her for not wanting to ride she doesn’t know us. But we didn’t take no for an answer. We were so scared that she might be hit by a car. Some spots of the road were kind of dark so we were worried for her. To be honest if not for the speed bump, nobody will slow down. Too dangerous for her to be walking especially she’s going to the middle of the road. We told her that we will take her to the place that she wanted to go.

As soon as she get in to our car we asked her where she’s heading. She told us at the blind massage. She said that she works there and she just finished working at a home service massage. Honestly, I was mad at her employer. They should at least bring and pick her up there at the home service thing. I already blamed the person that she did the service for too. If they can afford the home service I’m pretty sure they had house maid or a houseboy. They could at least call a tricycle or something for her. I can’t believe they just allowed the blind lady to be walking all alone in the dark. Somebody could rape or kidnapp her. Lots of bad people nowadays.

She even declined our offer to bring her to her work place, but Bob and I insisted. We don’t want her being hurt somewhere. She’s so thankful that we brought her to her work place. I told Bob that I will call the place of her work and kind of tell them of what happened. Bob just said to me if you complain, even if you mean nicely they will take it out on the girl. Then she would be likely be fired. I got thinking and Bob had a point there. I will just sealed my mouth for now.

Cheers!

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Comments

  1. You bring up an important point, Feyma. We have to be very, very careful about talking about employees to their employers. It’s really hard to get the point across about even good service, and to point up what might be embarrassing to the employer, like this case … the lady would likely get fired in a heartbeat … and then she’d be worse off than having to find her way home on her own.

    This a country where only the strong survive … sad to say.

    • Hi Dave – Yes a lot of employers here don’t want to accept criticism from others. They think they are high up and better than anybody. I don’t want that lady to be fired from her job, the way she talked she likes what she’s doing.

      I’m just hoping for employers to be responsible sometimes. Just not think of the profit all the time.

      As always, good to see you here Dave.

      Take care!

  2. It’s a sad thing the way people treat each others especially the handicap. Kindness and a general care for one another is almost a thing of the past. People only care about themselves and the almighty dollar (Peso). Bob unfortunatly is right she would probably get fired or the least verbally yelled at. You know she on a thin line when it comes to surviving so sometimes silence is golden no matter how made it makes us. It’s a sad thing.

  3. how about reporting it to the dept. of labor instead?

    better for them to hear it from the authorities so they won’t take it out on any of their blind workers.

      • But wouldn’t be detrimental for the employees when this is reported to DOLE? The government agency with its good intentions and purposes have every legal means to warn the employer in cases like these but they don’t have any safety nets for the affected employee like financial assistance in case the employer retaliates by not giving their salaries. Case in point as it is in the news lately, a sub-contractor of an ETON project in Manila have refused to pay the salaries of a worker when that worker complained to DOLE about his salaries and benefits or lack of it. His employer retaliated by asking the employee to sign a waiver that he would only get his salaries if he withdraws his complaint from DOLE while pending investigation of the government agency. Of course, DOLE upon learning this supported the employee, its all over the news. For the meantime, this poor soul has no money and having a hard time on his daily income. What to do?

  4. Feyma

    Thats really irresponsible of her employer to allow her to walk at night and really anytime w/o assistance. Your right with all the crazy people out there anything can happen to her. My oldest sister is legally blind and has been for 15 years. Just a few years ago she was able to get a guide dog. She had to stay 6 weeks at the training facility so she could bond with the dog. One of the best in the States. That dog has really been great for her. She is still able to work fulltime. Hopefully that young lady will be able to get some kind of help so she will be able to be more independent. It’s so nice of You and Bob to give her a ride. Your kindness is so amazing. Good Job Feyma!

    • HI Randy W. – Yes for sure. Not sure what the employers were thinking though. Good for your sister. To be honest I don’t think we have a training facilities here in the Philippines like what went through. If we do have it will probably done in Manila. Of course only the rich people here can afford that.

      Thanks Randy for your kind words. Good to see you here. I appreciate your thoughts and comments here.

      Take care!

  5. Hi there Ms Fyema, I echo the comments from other. It will be different from the employers view, and will likely fire her. You’re right that the company should at least have provisions or something that will bring her to and from when doing home service. If it’s sideline, though it’s something else.

    • Hi sugar – Yes, that’s the reason zip my mouth. I don’t want that lady to be fired. She likes what she does. I just hope and pray nothing happened to her when working outside the company’s premises. I don’t think that was a sideline.

      Thank you so much for stopping by.

      Take care!

  6. My complex has golf carts to shuttle people from the main gate to the individual buildings, some time back it was pouring–rainy season downpour and I saw a maid with at least 10 bags, I instructed my driver to stop and give her a lift. She was so thankful, 2 minutes out of my life.
    When we pulled up to her building I jumped out and opened the door for her, little did I know eyes were watching. We helped her with her bags…………..next day she saw my driver and asked if I was hiring a yaya…….yep they fired her. I managed to get her hired as a cleaner in our complex but I learnt my lesson.

      • It is sad, what bothers me is when I will do something that I think is just being human and it bites the person or me. I will order pizza for the staff, and leftovers I will send with pop to the Guard house, I have been FORMALLY notified not to do this, as other owners do not share food with the staff in the compound, and is sets a bad example. So I beat them I simply tell the delivery boy take this and that to the guard house or when I am coming home I drop it off.

        • hi john,

          sorry to hear that, but most domestic-help employers are wary of ‘avoidable accidents’ that may involve either you, or their employee. so to avert any possibility of trouble, they let go of the involved person as a warning to other household helpers.

          examples abound in the tabloids : a maid gets raped, killed & dumped on a roadside after having regular ‘ride-alongs’ with a neighbor’s driver, with no clear suspects. or a maid starts seeing a “friendly, kind foreigner” who then gets killed after getting robbed in his own home, again with no suspects.

          people tend to get paranoid about these things, so you really just have to be mindful.

    • Hi John – Good gesture from you there. Just be very careful though especially if your a foreigner here. I know that it is kind of you to do what you did. But to others here you could be painted as the maids grabber or something like that. They might think every time you want an employee you will just look around the neighborhood and take their employees. I know that’s not your intention but to other employers here, they might think differently. Also if you lived in a gated neighborhood be very careful. You have to really follow the rules implemented by the homeowners association. Just be very careful.

      Thank you for stopping by.

      Take care!

  7. Feyma,

    Again, God Bless Bob and you for helping. The comments are just as depressing as your blog. How do you balance helping someone out and not getting them fired from a job? I wouldn’t think twice about helping. It seems that the USA isn’t the only place that has lost the sense of right and wrong.

    • I really feel for the blind in the Manila, I have often debated with mates about how many there are and why? I honestly have never seen so many in my life, I think it is tragic they are forced into the massage business and told that is their only option, I heard the RP is finally going to licence massage therapists and I hope this will help the sector out. When I was growing up our piano was tuned by a blind person, they are considered the best and most expensive it is truly a skill and gift, they are trained by the CNIB (Canadian Nat Inst for the Blind).

    • Hi Jack – I think most of us here would not think twice of helping others especially the deserving one. But I know what you mean by “how can somebody help someone if they can be fired from the job”. It would be a tough choice. But our human instinct of wanting to help would kick in, and will helped the person at the end. Don’t you think?

      As always good to see you here again.

      Take care!

  8. Hi Feyma,
    Sadly,a common occurence in the 3rd world.
    At least you got her safely to her destination.
    regards,Chas.

  9. hi feyma ,dont feel bad about thinking the lady was drunk i think almost anyone who saw this would be the same but you and bob came to the rescue agaiin by helping this woman get to her job ,so maybe you spoke in haste but all would have been forgiven for your act of kindness to this person i agree with your opinions about how she may be atacked moving from job to job it is a poor state of affairs when an employer cannot ensure the safety for his or her workers ,still these things happen here there is a case at the moment where a young apprentice had his overalls caught in a machine and was torn in half the company directors faces a range of charges under the occupational health and safety legislation here a tragic accident for a young man with his life ahead of him, it makes you wonder how the employer would feel if he was in the same positon ?
    chris

    • Hi chris – Thank you so much for your kind words. I really appreciate very much. I just hope and pray that nothing bad happens to the blind workers that worked for the irresponsible employer. I am hoping for the good outcome of the story you just said. I’m with you I wonder what the employer thinks too? I think they will change a lot in the company if it happens to them (the employer).

      Thank you so much for stopping by here.Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

      Take care!

  10. WOW what horrible employers!

    There is a home service massage that drives their employees to and from the home service and all their employees can see.

    You don’t just let a blind lady go wherever on her own.

    It’s not like we are in a first world country where they have this grids on the ground orw hatever bumby shapes to let the blind people know its the end of a street or what, and those sounds that tell blind people it’s ok to cross the street. etc etc!

    Glad you guys got her to where she should be safely.

    • Hmmm..you’re last paragraph is a good idea Cheryll. Maybe, people in Davao can lobby their Congressman to do just that since I read in the news that the House of Representatives are asking for more pork (money).