NARS Tidbits

Here’s a collection of short narratives of interesting and amusing Pinoy incidents in America from many of my readers and their acquaintances. Some are funny, some are not, some are naively comical that are downright embarrassing, and all are true.


Are You Free Tomorrow?
It was late Friday night, I worked a 12-hour shift 7A to 7P. My car was parked at the third floor of the hospital garage. I stopped by the counter in the first floor to talk to the parking attendant to pay up my dues for the day (mind you, this happened 15 years ago so we still did not have electronic pay up system at the time). Knowing that I was working the next day which was a Saturday, I asked the guy this question, matter-of-factly: “Are you free tomorrow?” This Caucasian guy in his late twenties looked at me strangely, with his big blue eyes, quite surprised at the question, most likely wondering, how up front this young (demure) Asian girl is. I realized at that moment that I just actually asked a guy for a date without even knowing it! Before he even utter a word to accept or decline my “date” invitation, I immediately told the guy, that I was asking him if the parking is free tomorrow. And he regrettably answered yes. Yes to parking not to my “date” request.


3000 Miles
Maricar, a friend of my friend, is a nurse who just arrived in the US. She focused her time working overtime so she can get herself a new car. Finally, after rigorous hard work and plenty of overtime hours, she managed to make the car purchase. Being the responsible new car owner as she was, Maricar planned to keep her scheduled car maintenance such as oil change, tire rotation/alignment, etc., every three months or every 3000 miles. For her first 3000 miles oil change, she went to her car dealership maintenance department. Maricar arrived on time but she decided to drive around the dealership area several times for at least 5 minutes before finally driving her car through the maintenance work area. The following was the conversation that took place between Maricar and the maintenance guy who didn’t seem to understand the reason why she had to drive around for five minutes before finally getting in.

Maintenance Guy: “I am just curious. I saw you when you arrived but you did not get in right away. Why did you have to drive around several times?”
Maricar: “Oh. When I arrived at your shop, I noticed that my mileage was only 2,998 miles, which is 2 miles short of 3,000, so I drove around your area to make it to exactly 3,000 miles. So here I am for my 3,000 miles oil change!”