Reaction to the article "Privileged Lot"

Having been an avid daily reader of your paper for the last four years I was shocked to read the article mentioned above.

On a recent visit to a Food Mall in the city I was queued at a checkout when a floor assistant directed me to the check out marked "Senior Citizens". How fortunate I was not to have met up with the arrogant, rude obnoxious, self opinionated member of your staff. As being in my 75th year, an English national he would without doubt have been writing about me as a "Scrawny Caucasian" (true but very rude) whom he thinks of as "White Trash".

How is any foreigner expected to know that such a sign only refers to Filipinos? In my country a Senior Citizen is someone who if male has reached the age of 65 years or 60 years if female. Any person of this age is entitled to such things as advertised discounts on certain public transport fares or when visiting vacation places of interest without discrimination.

It would appear to me that there were two ill-bred slackers engaged in a shouting match for as we say, "it takes two to tango". This "Scrawny Caucasian" lived with his Filipino wife in England from 1988 to 2002 when we retired to live in Cebu.

Since 1988, although living on a modest pension, I have been helping to educate members of her family including her brother who is now an attorney-at-law.

Whilst on holiday in 1990, I rebuilt the original Day Care Center at Victoria with part of our holiday money. For the last 14 years I have financed the Day Care Center Christmas Party.

The writer's statement that this is obviously a reward for "Filipinos life long service to the country", is like his view on Caucasians, very flawed as he believe that people who have spent say 30 years in prison for a heinous crime should be rewarded!

Having left formal education at the age of 13 years to take up training as a building construction worker I obviously do not have the education and intelligence to understand that the kindness and respect for my age shown to me by a store assistant was a "Humiliating defeat for the entire nation". To this elderly scrawny Caucasian or White Trash in my uneducated, naive unintelligent view, I was being treated with the same respect as I show to my staff and other people no matter their station in life.

Like the writer I abhor people who lord it over or abuse other people by using their position or wealth whether they be police officers, politicians or members of the clergy. The difference is, my dislike is not restricted by their ethnic origin and equally applies to all.

What sort of a man is it that because he could not get the desired result would state that he "Wanted to throttle Miss Supervisor"

The Oxford English Dictionary defines "Racism" as "a belief in the superiority of a particular race, prejudice based on this, antagonism towards or discrimination against other races etc." Obviously despite his education and intelligence the writer believes this is only limited to "White Trash".

You can rest assured that my list of dislikes now includes newspaper columnists who use their position to attack and vilify people who are not given the opportunity to answer such unwanted, distorted, biased views.

I can only applaud the fact that the Supervisor did not allow herself to be intimidated by the hostile vibes being emitted by your columnist. I trust Metro Gaisano will continue their policy to assist and show respect for the age of their customers irrespective of the color of their skin. Being almost 75 years of age, with a long standing heart complaint and arthritic knees I appreciated such customer friendly staff. If I wished to reduce myself to the level of your columnist I am sure I could find as many insulting expletives to describe his arrogant egotistical attitude towards what he considers to be "White Trash". Being an uneducated scrawny Caucasian I would have thought his most appropriated course of action and not belittle himself by getting into a shouting match with an ill-breed foul-mouthed slacker.

I have spoke to my attorney who has informed me that a Senior Citizen as defined under the Republic Act 9257 is a grey area open to interpretation. In his learned opinion if Metro Gaisano wishes to exclude persons other than Filipinos the sign should read "Filipino Senior Citizen Only". Perhaps it is your columnist who needs to be educated and not the Supervisor who was correct.

I do not believe it was the brain of Miss Supervisor which did not function but the brain of your columnist who did not stop to consider that such an article if published in overseas newspaper and accepted as a general consensus of opinion by prospective retirees would no doubt as he so aptly put it "make them want to avoid persons like him like the plague".

(Sgd.) Geoffrey Douglas Clarke
Barangay Argawanon
San Remigio, Cebu