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The Great Divide

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As in our and maybe your purok and following generations old Sari-sari guidelines are still adhered to, there is an unwritten rule that there must be a Sari-sari store no further than 50 meters from the next one, they can be nearer if need be but a person should never be required to walk more than one minute to get to one.

I once lived on a dead end street in Olongapo that had twelve houses and seven had a Sari-sari store attached. (I believe the remaining five were bankrupted) Knowing that they all sell exactly the same thing at exactly the same price the competition must be fierce.

Throwaway Ticket Service - The Business that works while you sleep

But as I popped open my adult beverage and pondered over that burning question, I thought; “With me it is the temperature of the bottled consumable plus did they keep more than three in stock? The answer was sometimes NIS and warm beer. One of the main reasons I soon purchased a separate beer Ref for myself. And out of respect I kept it in the closed Sari-sari store on the lot I was renting, as it seemed like the correct thing to do.

With more beverages I gave more thought as to why the phenomenon existed Then I had that “Light-bulb Moment” (I seem to have them all the time) as I remembered that if you needed a vulcanizer they were all on one street lined up one after the other in every town The same rule apprises to all trades, the Fan Repair, auto upholstery and so many others and least we forget bars! All in a row (Except in Tagaytay where all is neat and orderly) If you want a quick lunch at the Pinoy fast food stall pick anyone of the dozens of kiosks lined up on that side street.

I think I’ve laid a good background of established tried and true business practices here in our neck of the woods, (Except that one guy in Tagaytay who lives in that perfect place) But the rest of us could agree that I’m fairly accurate.

Now for how it is on my (Ilang-Ilang) street in my section of the world. Did you ever notice the redundancy in naming thing? The Bahak-bahak Market or my friend lives in Balik-balik, Sari sari store and so on. I’m still working that out.

We, as do you also have the prerequisite Sari-sari every 50 meters, plus I’ve added more beer and no wisdom to my ponderings and have concluded that it is a cult of personality, that is the determination between success or failure of the stores. (Well the Indian guy on the 90cc motorbike with the turban collecting the interest on the 5-6 loans also has something to do with it)

I’ll use my street and the 150 meter section of which I’m in the middle of as an example. To my left is Bobby’s Store, it is well built and professionally run. Carrying fresh products and regular prices, the down side is thick screens which prevent you from viewing the stock and they open at 1200 and close at 2200, but hell you should know what the stock is anyway, and they have only been in business about 6 months.

The store on my right and across the street is a small wide open place that carries most of the required items again at regular prices. Now to my theory of “The Cult of Personality” this store is ran by a tall slim very well dressed “Lady-boy” who every woman in the purok is now friends with, the store in the evening it has become the hang around spot with the ladies (Plus more single guys than should be there!) If I need my wife around sunset I know where to find her. On Friday night there is a party with the consumption of “Emparaflu Lite” which goes on until late.

Now I do not attend those functions, but only because that is Mayang’s social time and not mine (That is my decision, because I get my time when I want it) Also please do not assume that I’m a homophobic as I’m of the school of live and let live. Albeit Bruce Jenner seems a bit odd to me waking up in his sixties and deciding he was wrong for six decades. But he is now the spokesperson for Half &Half coffee creamer. That worked out well.

The Great Divide in the United States AKA the continental divide separates rivers that flow into the Pacific Ocean from rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico On my street it is the front of my house that collects all trash from both Sari-sari stores as those wrappers will stay in a person’s hand as long as it takes to consume it. Then due to the spacing and direction travelled, it collects at my gate. Maybe I’m the one who should be the one to place the litter can in front of my house? .But remember no one litters in Tagaytay its still perfect there.

Did you notice how I wandered around the subject to get to my point about the litter? I amaze myself sometimes while having a beer and overlooking the Great Divide but as always it was an interesting trip.

Special note: Palawan is the cleanest place I’ve seen in the Philippines! (“Hey, I know yours is cleaner, but I’ve not been there yet!”

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Paul Thompson

Paul Thompson; has resided in the Philippines since 1993, living close to Subic Bay. I’m married to a wonderful girl named Maria (AKA Mayang).Who is from Gordon Heights in Olongapo where she grew up with her Mom & Dad and seven siblings Our two daughters are both grown up and have left the nest, the eldest married to a wonderful guy named Chris, and they have blessed us with our granddaughter Heather Colleen Our youngest daughter and her husband Cecil have blessed us with a grandson named. Jayden Logan. I’m a retired U.S. NAVY Senior Chief after 22 years of active duty. After retirement from the Navy I lived for 7 years in Puerto Rico as a Night Club owner. Then Hurricane Hugo told me to find a new line of work, I was hired by Military Sealift Command and went back to sea in Asia as a Merchant Seaman for 10 years. After 30 plus years at sea I buried my anchor on a mountain in the Philippines and am now residing in Dinalupihan (or DinBat for short), Roosevelt, Bataan where we built our home. And last but not least, anything I writes will be pure "Tongue in Cheek "If anybody is offended, I'll lose no sleep over it, but here's a quick Mea Culpa in advance!

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Jericho Gillette
7 years ago

I love Philippines,presko ang hangin,presko mga pagkaon,mga buotan ug maayo ang mga Pilipino Bob Martin.?

Bob Martin
7 years ago

Lagi, Jericho Gillette

ben krahne
7 years ago

Im not sure if your keyword is beer or ladyboy , good read either way

ben krahne
7 years ago
Reply to  Paul Thompson

Sir…….. yes your in the Phils lol
Perhaps if you drank more Redhorse , The ladyboy would have won

Lenny
Lenny
7 years ago

If u put that garbage can out front u better chain it

queeniebee5
queeniebee5
7 years ago

Hi Paul, We only have one sari-sari store next to us because we are in a barangay that is a bit away from the town proper, and almost borders the next town over. I think that we are their biggest customer for coke. Problem is sometimes the soft drink truck runs out of stock before it reaches us even though we’re right on the old national road. Same with the beer truck, so we end up stocking our own stash from the city supermarkets. Unlike you we also like to get get some of that that San Miguel apple flavored… Read more »

Greg Schulze
7 years ago

Nice article Paul. Love it….

bigp
bigp
7 years ago

I need to find one of those delivery guys for the beer & soda. It is just to darn far for me to pack it up here on the mountain. Hard enough just getting me up here. Thanks for the company the other night and I guess the liquid refreshments must have caused short term memory loss as I put the lighter fluid in the front seat and set in the back seat on the return and forgot all about the fluid. I guess we will just have to get together again for the passing of the fluid.

Jose Porfirio
Jose Porfirio
7 years ago

Mr. Paul T., I love the way you zinged on Tagaytay City… or was it for the dude who lives in that city where you could see Taal (which is in Batangas)? Anyway, another good article. Stars & Stripes and Military. com writers has nothing on you! Cheers and enjoy your SMB.

Rusty Bowers
Rusty Bowers
7 years ago

Paul,

LOL- Love your postings.

Our street only has 2 Sari-Sari stores and one restaurant on it. So we don’t have all the Sari-Sari stores you have. But then there are only 4 houses on our street.

One Sari-Sari store is renting some space. What a great idea to make some extra cash, right? A real capitalist at work. The capitalists only requirement (which is minor): Don’t sell anything he’s selling. Makes sense to him. Trouble is he’s selling everything from beer/food to screws. Hum!!!!!!

Rusty

Adam
Adam
7 years ago
Reply to  Paul Thompson

3 sari-saris within 50 metres of my house. Knew an American who owned one a kilometer or so from here. I used to sit and have coffee with him. He told me how many cigarettes and candies he needed to sell just to make a peso profit. Was more than a handfull that’s for sure. Maybe he was unlike Filipinos and was deducting his expenses from his earnings at the end of the month! lol Needless to say, he is not in that business anymore. Littering is a bad habit here. Putting your trash in the bin should be taught… Read more »

Rusty Bowers
Rusty Bowers
7 years ago
Reply to  Paul Thompson

Paul,

LOL -Probably the only reason there aren’t more Sari-Sari stores on our street is that we own 2/3rds of the street. In 1995 when we bought the land no one wanted to live 10 miles outside of the major town. They thought I was nuts. Which is probably true.

The Lady-Boy is a thought. I could open a little shop, as something to do, and the Lady-Boy would at least bring in the women. Women do, after all, always want to eat. At least my wife does.

Rusty

Rusty
Rusty
7 years ago
Reply to  Paul Thompson

Paul,

The smoke. The smoke. Seems if one buys the whole area someone is going to burn and drive one nuts. A friend said I should be glad they are killing my bugs. Bugs. Bugs. Where do they think I live.

I even use detergent with lemon to kill the ants. Actually white vinegar and water keeps ants away better than detergent with lemon.

The ants hate the smell of vinegar. So they move on.

Luke Tynan
7 years ago

Paul, Thank you great article.

PapaDuck
PapaDuck
7 years ago

Paul,
The 50 meter rule doesn’t apply to our subdivision. We might have 5 stores in the whole subdivision. I generally don’t use them, but Anne visits them when she forgets something at the supermarket.

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