The Istambay Culture

Istambay, a Visayan transliteration of the English word "stand by" meaning to hang around. In recent years, it has come to mean a certain subculture of idle people, usually males, commonly in depressed communities, habitually gathering and spending time together. This group seems to live for the moment, without any semblance of care for the future.

The istambays are known for certain characteristics. One, they are a very territorial lot, regarding their own neighborhood as their hallowed place. They see every unknown visitor or stranger in their community as an intruder. You will think they are some vanguards of peace and order in the neighborhood if not for the fact that they themselves are notorious for disorderly conduct. Extremely proprietary of their territory, istambays are known for bullying strangers that stray into their home turf.

The istambay behavior is rooted in some kind of deprivation, in one way or the other. Most of them come from a background of lack-from poor homes that can hardly afford to provide them with material provisions, nurturing attention and prospects for a better future. This condition they try to cope with by training their sight elsewhere. And they need not look far-right around them they find good company. There are many others like them who feel helpless in the face of need.

Their spending time together is an escape-just being together, doing nothing aside from petty gambling and drinking. You'd wonder how people with no dependable income could afford such vices. Well, every once in a while, they are called upon to run contrabands or peddle around some hot items.

Indolence seems to be a common trait among istambays, learned indolence. As soon as they see that they can get by through the day just loitering around, that's it. They seldom engage in anything really useful. Some of them lack opportunities for productive undertaking, while others lack the drive to do anything. The istambays suffer from a great loss-the loss of initiative to achieve something creditable, to become something worthwhile. They all share a common lack of willpower to embark on the crucial undertaking of improving oneself.

Their boisterous conversations and foul language are efforts to project a tough image. Their talk usually centers on conquests of women, incredible adventures, or some luck that regularly comes their way-they are either Casanovas, daredevils, geniuses, luck's favorites, or all of these combined-the exact opposites of the reality obtaining in their life. They know that it's all imagination, but no one would contest another's bluff. It's their escape. Imagination is their own version of life-because real life is just too hard to get by. With meaningless talk, often fuelled by drinks extorted from passers-by and neighbors, they forget the scarcities at home and they enjoy each other's attention. That momentarily fills their inner emptiness.

Istambays have certain uses too, albeit occasionally-they provide readily available extra hands when some help is needed. They will do anything-for a fee, of course. They are convenient hauls for anti-government rallies. Or, they play sidekicks to the powers-that-be in their community, especially those whose egos also need constant massaging. Istambays love to take shed in some big names. It is common to hear them brag about their associations with notable people. They, then, carry themselves like they're biggies too!

Many istambays, the younger ones especially, are particularly conscious about their looks or outward appearance. They try to follow whatever is in vogue and flaunt every trendy piece they have. You see them dressed up like they're some fashion icons on their way to a show. From a meticulously styled hair to the imitation designer jeans, shirt and pair of shoes, they got it all. Sometimes you won't even need to guess what color of underwear they have-they show it all off! In the absence of any chic garb, they exhibit their tattooed bodies instead. You'd think they're really some big shots, until they're rounded up by the police for looting a neighbor's belongings.

Being an istambay is training ground for criminal behavior. Boredom and peer pressure goads one into doing things without calculating the possible consequences, without first thinking of the risks involved. Moreover, boredom and peer pressure are a lethal combination for one's sense of propriety and uprightness. Boredom can make one think of many different things, good or bad. And friends with questionable characters can only make one do questionable things.

In truth, however, the outward toughness is only a cover, the istambays are weaklings inside. They draw their strength in their number; hence, the need to be together always. Misery loves company. They find an escape from their miserable individual circumstances in the company of friends who, like them, are also running away from their own life difficulties. They create a world of their own, in their minds, in their lies. They feed each other's needs, especially their need for acceptance.

It's easy to find solace within the circle of one's own kind. So the istambays gather together, often, and more often, until it becomes their life. They eventually forget what these habitual get-togethers are really about in the first place. Their feelings of personal inadequacy get buried, deeper and deeper, in other things: petty crimes to sustain their binges, and other wild activities to overcome the harrowing boredom and lack of direction in life. Then, their fates are sealed.

The istambays are not unique to our culture. The other cultures of the world have their own istambays too. Why is that? Well, everywhere there are people who don't have real work to do, and people who don't want to do real work.