Hey, Joe!

I remember when I was a kid in the streets of Quezon City. We seldom see foreigners walking in our place. And every time there was one, we strutted alongside him and shout out “Hey, Joe!” It did not matter whether he was an Australian or any other non-American Caucasian. As long as the guy was white, we called him “Joe” anyway.

There was one time when two Caucasian missionaries in white polo and ties were spotted about 200 meters from us kids. Somebody shouted, “May Amerkano!” (There are Americans!). It was like a war cry that every kid in our community started running towards the white men. Now, if you were in the place of those guys and you see about a hundred children shouting and running towards you, what would you do? Those two guys made a quick turn-around and walked fast away from us! That event happened more than 15 years before I became a professional and a traveler.

Up to this day, some foreigners are still called “Hey Joe” in some rural communities. They also call non-whites with the term. Many of those foreigners wear heavy backpacks and sport weird-looking paraphernalia. Since I travel a lot with a heavy backpack, children also call me “Hey Joe!” To their surprise, I speak to them in Tagalog. And I never made a quick turn-around.