I’LL HAVE A BURGER MEAL WITH THAT

“ Jollibee may not be as Filipino as I once took it ”My stomach was hurting. It was late at night and I had been in the hospital for almost six hours. The doctors in the emergency ward were giving me appre-hensive glances, worriedly considering the possibility of appendicitis. In the bed next to me, a woman was screaming in pain. In my own pained stupor, I couldn’t help but feel pity for her. After all, I wasn’t the one moaning. When I found out the cause of her pain, my stomach clenched. She had gotten food poisoning when she had eaten in Jollibee earlier that evening.

I grew up loving Jollibee. I spent many significant moments there: my first and seventh birthday parties, for example. Across my high school was a Jollibee branch. During my earlier years as grade school student, I would always sug-gest, to my mum or dad that we eat there, whenever either of them had to pick me up after a school event. In high school, Jollibee became a regular hang out for my friends and me. We met there before school activities and parted there after. Jollibee and McDonald’s have always been placed to-gether side by side, mostly to be compared via price, advertising or quality. However, when I was a child, these didn’t mean a thing. I only had two rea-sons for preferring Jollibee: first, they served burger steak rice meals and second, Jollibee has always looked less frightening than Ronald McDonald.

When I remember my previous reasons, I found myself laughing. It sounded like the typical logic of someone young: always looking at the surface of

things. However, I found that I actually liked that kind of logic. As a child, I had judged things and based opinions on what would simply make me happy. If eating burger patties and rice that had a jolly bee mascot made me happy then so be it.

But as I grew more opinionated, I began to realize that Jollibee may not be as But as I grew more opinionated, I began to realize that Jollibee may not be as Filipino as I once took it. I realized that Jollibee is not a genius idea. Whether we admit it or not, Jollibee is simply an imitation of McDonald’s. Why should we consider Jollibee as something Filipino? Majority of the meals served are chicken, deep fried and crispy— nothing uniquely Filipino about that. Even burger meals have reduced the image of Jollibee as something Filipino. These days, I can’t truly call myself a Jollibee person. Living in a dorm has These days, I can’t truly call myself a Jollibee person. Living in a dorm has made me a frequent customer of fast food chains. Unfortunately, I have only accustomed myself with the delivery number of McDonald’s and KFC. Even on weekends, my family would usually eat in Burger King, because my mom knows it’s one of the few fast food chains not found in Katipunan.

My fondness of Jollibee has diminished. Since I’ve been used to thinking of My fondness of Jollibee has diminished. Since I’ve been used to thinking of Jollibee as something Filipino, I also feel as though a part of my pride for the country has also lessened. As I continue munching the fries I’ve ordered from McDonald’s, I promise myself that next I will order from Jollibee again, despite hearing woman’s groan in my mind.

DOM loves what is our own and what is FILIPINO