A Lack of Vision

A LACK OF VISION: GOOD AND BAD BUSINESS

I had two interesting related experiences. Last Saturday, I went to a Filipino restaurant called Pinoy-Pinay located in Las Vegas. I spoke with a nice lady named Mely who happened to own the restaurant with her siblings. They have three restaurants in California aside from their Las Vegas location. I ordered some food for the night. I made a comment about their cash only policy and asked her if she's had a lot of bad experiences with checks and credit cards. She said that she's had large volumes of bounced checks from Filipinos and lamented that checks bounce no matter how small the amount is. And it didn't matter if the checks come from business owners, Filipino doctors or nurses....she's had checks bounced anyway. So she had enough and instigated the cash-only policy. She also installed an ATM machine in the premises. Granted there is a premium of fees when it is used---but she's not had any problems when people have to pay cash. She also made the comment that it's so sad that its mostly Filipinos who bounce checks or use stolen credit cards.

Of course, most of her patrons are Filipinos since its a Filipino restaurant. Her family used to own the famous Liwayway Bakery in Baliuag, Bulacan and that establishment has been in existence for decades because she believes in honesty and that businesses have a longer life if it is run with integrity. And she's not kidding. Every time I order food from her, it's always more than I expect and she never shorts me. The food is always good, hot and the volume is always generous. So I keep on patronizing her establishment. It's a good place. And it's always full. It's an inspiration to see her doing so well. But so sad that she's had these bad experiences with her own countrymen. Of course, if she were a burger joint, she'd probably have the same problems with all kinds of folk since check bouncing is not limited to Filipinos.

Yesterday, Natascha, Hannah and Catherine went shopping with me. We went to Chinatown. Last week, there was a promotional week-long trade show in the Chinatown mall and a merchant gave us a coupon to encourage us to shop in his store. We liked his merchandise so we went back to look for his store. After we chose the items that caught our fancy, I presented the coupon to the cashier.

She told me that the coupon was no longer valid.

I had over $200 worth of goods in my hands so I was incensed and I said,

"But of course the coupon is no longer valid! Because we're here now and I'm holding all these merchandise!"

So she said that I could choose one item from a clearance rack instead of giving me the 20% off. But there was nothing that we liked from the rack and even if we did, everything was small.

So I told her to just honor the coupon because it has no expiry date on it and I just got it last week. She refused. I got mad. So I said, you either have $150 worth of sales today and I don't see any other customers around (there were none...) or zero sales. She refused to budge.

Well, I really liked the 5 pairs of shoes and other items so I got really mad and said, "You know, this is no way to treat a customer. I could be having a great first experience in your store and come back every month and spend a hundred or so every time or you can lose this sale and other potential sales. What is it going to be? Or do you want to call the owner?"

She finally gave me the discount and took the coupon grudgingly. So I was mad. Crazy, stupid Chinese. How dumb is that?

Anyway, I got what I wanted and I'm never going back to her stupid store. But this is so common among the Asians that I deal with. For example, the Korean-run dry cleaning stores will send us coupons and then when we get there arms full of shirts and suits, they tell us the coupons are no longer valid even when there is no expiry date. So then, we are caught literally with our clothes hanging on our arms with no desire to haul them back to the car. Then another battle has to be fought. This type of shenanigan gives us such a bad reputation. It's so stupid.



Anyway, that's my shopping experience for today. Tomorrow, I'll just hit the mall and get my usual good deals at Nordstroms clearance racks. Crazy.

2007 Mishmash

Well, we're five years closer to the Mayan calendar's predicted doomsday date of Dec 21, 2012, which also marks the completion of the galactic alignment when the earth aligns with the galactic equator which is the center-line of the milky way. This happens once every 26,000 years. This also marks the completion of the earth wobbling very slowly on its axis--when it shifts the position of the equinoxes and solstices one degree every 71.5 years--- two events predicted by the Mayan calendar and incidentally, is also when their calendar ends. I'll be close to 56 years old then. I hope I'd have lost 40 pounds. I slept through New Year's Eve---a definite sign of the times---though I think my kids had a great time together. I was just exhausted.

We had the CEO of Mountain View Hospital and his wife as our dinner guests last Saturday. We had a great time. Mark Howard was the 11th LDS missionary in the Philippines who taught and baptized my step-father and his family. He is a delightful man full of enthusiasm, vim and vigor. He loves Filipino culture and...food! His favorite drink is "cosmos" so, as a surprise, I had a 2 liter bottle of Sarsi, formerly known as "cosmos". He drank the whole bottle. I had pork adobo, chicken pastel, guinisang sitaw at kalabasa (squash and long beans), pansit palabok and lumpia. For dessert, I served samplings of mango and jackfruit with cashew ice creams on my green depression glass bowls and saucers. I had quite an elegant spread. I worked the whole day to make the house look spectacular with the kids help, of course. Kurt was his usual charming self. My mom and step-father were here too. It was a fabulous affair. He promised to help Leland land a summer internship with the hospital. I hope that happens. It was great to reminisce the early days of the church in the Philippines.

We completed the study of the Old Testament in church yesterday. Next Sunday, we start the New Testament. I have to say that I fully enjoyed this year of study because I decided to really 'feast' on the scriptures. I've studied the scriptures in various ways through the years---by topic, by elaborate marking strategies, by outlining, cross referencing, etc. This year, I decided to study the Old Testament by reading up about the history of the times on the side. This was a great idea.

To fully understand the Old Testmant which is told mostly from the point of view of Judaic writers, one must understand the culture and times and as much of the language as possible. This casts a wider and brighter light on the text and detail of the scriptures. For example, most people read the Old Testament as if it were a mystical or mythical book that happened in some far away place and time that we can't really relate to. But when you realize that Alexander the Great, Tiberius, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were alive during the times of the Old Testament, that puts a different spin on the way you perceive things.

I was especially fascinated by the history of the Israelites---how they were dominated and conquered by several kingdoms starting with the Assyrians, the Babylonians and Chaldeans, the Persians, the Greeks and then the Romans who ruled until nearly 500 years after Christ. Another fascinating spin is the fact that great battles recorded by ancient historians such as Josephus actually coincide with battles described in the Old Testament. The battle of Thermopolae for example, happened 500 years before Christ---during the reign of King Darius. Before him, King Cyrus, a Persian ruler who overthrew the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, ordered the enslaved Israelites to return to their ancestral land of Judah, including Jerusalem, and actually insisted on putting this decree to writing. Included in this decree is the charge to build a temple on the site now known as Temple Mount. This same decree is still being used to this very day when Israel, as late as 2002, used this decree to underscore their right to the land of Jerusalem, specifically, the Temple Mount which is, in large degree under Muslim possession as a "spoil of war". Two Judaic temples have been built on this site, starting with that of King Solomon which was destroyed by the Babylonians. The 2nd temple was built after King Cyrus' decree which was eventually destroyed by the Romans after the death of Christ. The third temple is yet to be built and the anticipation of this event is formally included in the thrice daily Jewish prayer services. This third and last temple will precede the coming of the Messiah. There is actually a movement by many Jewish and non-Jewish groups to expedite this event. I myself am anxious for this to happen. But the political implications are grim as prophesied in the Old Testament and we know now that for this to happen, a great war will have to be fought against the Muslims....which in fact, is already happening.

Another detail that is so lost to the world is the fact that Christ was a practicing Jewish rabbi. He was in fact, a Jew and observed the Jewish traditions as they are meant to be observed. In a fit of righteous indignation, he was mortified that the holy temple (the 2nd one built after King Cyrus' decree...) was being used as a "den of thieves". Temples were and are still an important part of Jewish tradition and should still be important. This gives the building of the 3rd temple on Temple Mount in Jerusalem great urgency. It is part of Biblical prophecy. While many may view this as only a Jewish "problem", if you think about it, it really should be every Christian's dream if we are to be looking forward to the coming of Christ. Anyway, I am looking forward to studying the New Testament and will start my studies immediately. Jordan will be going to London and Scotland for the spring term to study the works of English writers. I am thinking of meeting him in Barcelona when the term ends mid-June. I hope I can manage that since it coincides with Hannah's graduation date. We'll have to do a lot of planning. This summer will be Hannah's last summer before she goes to college. I can't even think about it.