Some surprising
cultural differences

There is wisdom in always studying about the culture of another country or people. And this was confirmed again recently by the quaint practice among the Irish. This was something discussed among Filipino, mostly Negrense, nurses in Dublin, Ireland. And it was a telling discovery, something which had to be shared with the others to alert them on how they could avoid future problems, including possible social embarrassment.

According to an Escalante City male nurse, he felt delighted having been invited to a wedding ceremony and reception by an Irish couple.

"And so I eagerly joined the crowd at the function room of a Dublin posh hotel. And I plunged into the food and drinks that were being offered on the menu card," he recalled.

"But I somehow restrained myself. I don't know what prompted me to do it, but I had the surprise of my life when at the end of the meal, the waiter presented me the bill for what I had consumed," he said.

In the Philippines, that would have been a mortal sin. For that matter, it could have led to violence. But, as pointed out by the male nurse, he soon learned that the practice in Ireland is that reception does not include freebies in food and drinks. Nothing is free.

Later, during the joust between the Philippine basketball team and the All Irish Rangers in the Dublin Senior Men's Basketball league, the Pinoys were bantering about the Sermon on the Mount's declaration that when slapped on the left check to turn the other cheek.

No, it's not because they are good Christians. It simply concerned the practice in Ireland that one gets slapped a 5,000 Euro fine when one hits another person.

Thus, the standard joke among Pinoys here is that when you get hit by a person, you turn the other cheek and earn 10,000 Euros. That's the equivalent of about P600,000. And not only that, you also get a month's vacation from work with pay.

Erstwhile Negros Slasher Erwin Framo gleefully advised his teammates never to get provoked into doing any violence against their Irish opponents.

Junior amplified that with a story about how when a Pinoy complained about having been hit on the cheek by another was asked by the Garda Irish police to bring with him his two witnesses. He did. Later, it turned out that the TV monitor also had caught him on tape. It showed that he was also the first one to hit the other.

And, so what happened? Both were fined 5,000 Euro each and to pay the other.

The funniest spectacle in Dublin and in the countryside village were smokers puffing in the winter cold outside the pubs (bars) and stores in compliance with the anti-smoking ban.

Now remember that cirrhosis and cancer of the liver are the principal mortality causes among the Irish. Thus, one can appreciate the stiff opposition to the measure while it was still being debated.

But the moment that was passed into law, Irish drinkers, male or female, dutifully abide with it. The fines were stiff. And no one wanted to risk getting punished almost a month's pay for violating the ban.

My Junior gave me the additional reason for not wanting to smoke. It seems the government had really slapped high "sin taxes" on cigarettes.

Using his cellphone to translate the price per pack of 20 sticks into peso, my son came out with the astronomical price - P461 per pack. Enough to discourage a visitor from taking another puff of smoke. That helped me reinforce my determination to give up smoking. The former reason was simply it was so excruciating on the chilling cold for every puff of cigarette. So that, even with my trove of cigarette from the Philippines, I eventually failed to smoke them all. Even when I returned home, my self-imposed restrictions enabled me to bring back several more packs of unconsumed cigarets.

That also gave me an insight into how God helped me curb my unrestrained appetite for a smoke by subtle reminders that it was not a positive habit but could prove counterproductive, to my health and to my pocket.*

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