Cheap Labour

Labour is cheap here in the Philippines. Anything that involves actual manual labour of some sort is way cheaper in comparison to Canada. Visits to the dentists are cheaper. Haircuts are cheaper. Massages are way cheaper. Installations of things are cheaper. A current example of cheap labour regarding installations happened to me today. In Canada when I wanted internet hooked up in my home the internet company sent me one guy. This one guy dealt with the hardware installation, the software installation, and the product testing. One guy. Today I was getting internet hooked up in our condo and the internet company sent three guys (or at least I think it was only three: the first visit consisted of two guys and the second visit consisted of three guys. I'm 89% sure the second group of three included the first group of two. I might be wrong and if that's the case, my internet experience consisted of five guys!). These three (or five) guys consisted of the hardware, hardware (yes, two hardwares) and product testing. One job per technician. The first technician tested the phone lines to see if they were working. The second guy took the router out of the box and plugged the cabling in. The third guy tested the internet connection. By 'testing' I'm referring to him calling me over to show me an exciting rap video he was playing off YouTube. Three guys! I wonder if the last technician, the testing technician, picks the same rap video for every customer or if he mixes it up a bit. Maybe he picks a video that best represents - to his knowledge - the interests of the costumer. If that's the case, I'm curious why he thinks this white boy from Vancouver, Canada is down with the homies. Yo Brotha, I'm down with the Pinoy!

You would think having three technicians would make the job more fast and efficient but oddly enough, it was less efficient. My appointment for the installation was suppose to be yesterday morning but when they didn't show up and I had to set up a new time of 11am today, they decided to show up at 8am when I wasn't at home. 11am rolls around, I get home, call them, and discover they've not only left the building but left the city too! Thankfully, eventually, amazingly, they showed up around lunch time which to a Filipino is a very important siesta time (blame the Spanish influence for that one). I'm honoured they sacrificed their little afternoon nap for little old me! Thank you Gentlemen Technicians, this Canadian boy salutes you!