Sari-Sari Store Mentality

I'm going to rant about the Filipinos' frickin' sari-sari store mentality.

Being a third-world country, sari-sari stores (aka convenience stores) are sprawling everywhere! In our village, there must be one in every street. More so in squatter areas where sari-sari stores exist side-by-side! Although they really sound so third-world, I don't really condemn the existence of sari-sari stores since they're so, well, convenient. Where else can I get my daily fix of Coke and junk food? Or if you forget to buy an ingredient or whatever, there's always the trusty ol' sari-sari store.

What I abhor about this is that when your neighbors see that your store is doing good, they suddenly get the idea to put up one, too. How do you expect 6 sari-sari stores existing side-by-side to actually earn something? Don't they think that a single store would be enough for a given area? OA na kung OA but I think that the government or DTI or whatever government agency responsible for giving permits regulate them. At, diba... how original! May sari-sari store na nga kapitbahay mo, magtatayo ka pa? Are you stupid or are you stupid?

What got me writing about this is, again, related to the sudden proliferation of salons inside the village. We conceptualized ours even before the wellness trend hit mainstream. We put up a nail salon in the area since a decent one doesn't exist in the area. And now that there is one in the area (ours!), at least 10 other people want to put up their own nail spa. I mean, the village isn't even a big one. And people, it doesn't earn big bucks! I frickin' want to tell them to go find their own brilliant idea and not copy someone else's.

Boosit!