Wait... Did you hear something?

Apparently, it is considered the height of impropriety to enter someone's property without permission in the Philippines. And entering someone's home without a direct invitation is an absolute no-no.

When someone comes to our house, they bang the metal gate and wait. The gate is fairly loud, and in a typical home, someone would hear it and come out to see who was there. Being wussy Americans with a tendency to sweat profusely, however, means that we spend much of the day holed up in the part of our house that is air conditioned. Because of this, all our windows are shut, and it's almost impossible to hear someone banging at the gate. Even if you are watching through the window and see the person arrive and start banging, the noise is almost imperceptible.

Yesterday, I'd heard something that sounded like a faint doorbell, like one maybe coming from the neighbor's house, but investigated just in case. I didn't think we had a doorbell, but figured stranger discoveries have happened in a new-to-you house. The youngest had gone down to the windows along the door and was looking out at something. I asked her if she saw anyone, and she said no. I looked out myself and saw no one. However, not knowing about the "don't go on someone else's property uninvited" rule, I was looking right outside the door, and not out past the gate. About 15 minutes later, I heard the sound again and investigated again, but again saw no one. Another 10 minutes or so later, I looked out our bedroom window in time to see someone sadly get up from the sidewalk in front of our gate, put on his helmet, kick start his bike, and drive away. I have no idea who he was. We weren't expecting anyone. But I certainly felt like a jerk for missing him.

Last night, we ordered pizza and had it delivered. I happened to be standing at our bedroom window looking out at the gate while talking on the phone with A when I noticed the delivery man pull up on his motorcycle. He banged on the gate as I turned to head toward the door. By the time I'd grabbed my wallet and made it out the front door, he had assumed a posture on his bike that suggested that he was prepared to end his shift sitting outside my house.

He sprang into action, and this is when I realized something: customer service here is like living in a Showcase Showdown on The Price is Right. Everything is laid out before you and completely described before it is handed over. The deliveryman took our pizzas out of the bag, and I completely threw him off by handing him the money first. After a long awkward pause, he handed me three lollipops and my receipt and took the money. I wasn't quite sure what I'd done wrong until I made to take the pizzas from him.

Him (throwing a protective arm across the boxes): "Ma'am, please! Check your order!"
Me (stepping back): "Uhhh..."

He then proceeded to open each of the pizza boxes, delineating the sizes and toppings of each for my approval.

Ladies and gentlemen of Bloglandia, I had just had a Pizza Hut order presented to me while standing on my sidewalk with the same pomp and fanfare as if I were seated in a 5-star restaurant with linen table cloths.

He looked for my nod of acceptance, then closed the boxes and handed them to me with a smile.

My brain couldn't quite absorb what had just happened, but honestly, it was pretty freakin' awesome. And I imagine that it saves them a heck of a lot of hassle. Had I not interjected by handing over the money too soon, the entire exchange would have taken perhaps 20 seconds longer than it takes to interact with a pizza deliveryman in the States. But by doing it this way, they know immediately if they've screwed up an order and don't have to deal with getting an annoyed phone call 3 minutes later when you get inside and open the boxes. Also, you're agreeing to the contents of the order in front of an employee of the restaurant, so there are no phone calls from people trying to scam a free pizza that the deliveryman "forgot" to deliver. To top it off, you get the added bonus of making your customer feel incredibly important.

I'm no longer feeling guilty about getting this level of service everywhere we go. I'm now beginning to think that we'd be a lot happier if we still offered service like this in the States. It's essentially free, after all, and yet the benefits to making your customers feel this way would be enormous. Imagine if Macy's tested your rice cooker for you before you bought it, and checked to make sure that all of the accessories were still in the box, and JCPenny's offered the same rice cooker for the same price, and didn't take the time to check it and you ran the risk of getting home with a faulty product that was missing pieces. Where would you shop?

On a final note: a "family sized" pizza here is about the size of a medium in the States. And, they have a side order here that is essentially a pig-in-a-blanket topped with melted cheese. It came free with our order, or I never would have ordered them myself.

They were obscenely delicious.