You Idiot, Asshole, Bitch or whatever...

While I was reading through this email, all I felt was deep anger & the desire to spit ill words to this Anonymous' face. See? His email does not work and his email says he / she is a nobody? Maybe that was why he was able to write this hate mail. A complete insecured, jealous, pathetic human being. I pity you. And almost everybody does.

I admire the people who reacted, defended our race in this email.

I cannot help but react to this email. I may not share the same profession nor the lifestyle that they have. It is more like defending your own kind, your own race which is at the brunt of this maligned email. I am a Filipino. In my veins, that proud blood runs through me.


The One Who Started It All

From: Anonymous (nobody@paranoici.org)
Subject: Filipino Motherfuckers
Newsgroups: sci.med.nursing
Date: 2003-10-03 21:08:12 PST

My hospital is being deluged by this trash. I dont care what anyone says,
their skills do not measure up, they are not proactive, and they are very
robot like in behavior. They put up with just about everything, because
they are so glad to be here, they dare not complain.

We are being betrayed by our own. Hiring this vermin does not raise the
bar, it lowers it. How many thousands of dollars is spent importing,
housing, and training this Asian puke, when it could be better spent on our
own.

Call me rascist, call me whatever you want, but the floodgates that our
management has opened up will have long term ramifications for our
profession, and it will not be for the better.

As long as we import this putrid vermin from Asia , nursing will continue to
deteriorate and our bargaining strentgh will be lost as this subservient,
robotic like scum crosses our borders and delutes our strength

The best thing would be a plague to destroy every fucking slant eyed
Filipino out there. I hate to look at you and work with you.

And if you dont like what I say, I hope that one day one of your loved ones
is in the exclusive care of these robotic imbeciles. You will see!!!


Reactions

From: Belle (belle@filnurse.com)
Subject: Re: Filipino Motherfuckers
Newsgroups: sci.med.nursing
Date: 2003-10-08 16:54:19 PST

Filipino nurses come in droves but not all of them are "too happy" to
be in the U.S. We are aware of the hardships that beset us once we
land U.S. soil: inequality, discrimination, homesickness, etc. But
among our options, we'd rather face those realities in the U.S. than
become helpless in dealing with corruption, poverty and
carnival-politics back home.

We didn't go to the U.S. to ask for respect. We do not even get
respect from our own government. What has been left of us is the hope
that some day things will get better for our children. But of course,
you do not understand that, Anonymous, as I believe you have never
traveled in third-world nations.

However, being poor doesn't deter us from giving our best at work
wherever we may be. We came to U.S. to work as nurses, therefore, our
responsibility is towards the health client regardless of race, age or
color.

Our skills do not measure up, you say. For your information, our
educational system in nursing is taught in English and is
competency-based. Our curriculum which works towards a B.S. in
Nursing is patterned after..surprise, surprise...the American
curriculum.

Don't give the impression that Filipino nurses owe your country a
great deal for taking us in. Excuse me, it is America who came to us
and ask for our nurses to fill in your so-called nursing shortage.
Other countries such as U.K. and Australia have already drafted
statements on ethical recruitment of overseas nurses as you are
usurping third-world nations of labor resources. I wonder what will
happen if the Philippine government makes a sudden turnaround and
pulls out our nurses from your country and stop the importation. Have
you ever thought of that, Mr./Ms. Anonymous as you were talking about
"long-term ramifications on our profession." By then, I wish you luck
in training non-English speaking nurses.

On the subject of Filipino nurses not being pro-active, thank you for
showing us that the pro-active way of dealing with your problems with
Filipino nurses is by posting a hate mail using an anonymous email..
If you've been reading international nursing news, other first-world
nations like U.K. have taken the pro-active way of dealing with issues
faced by overseas nurses working in their countries like problems in
communicatin, professional development, discrimination and equal
opportunity. Translate that to your current situation, may I suggest
that the pro-active way to deal with your robot-like colleague is to
send him/her to train in assertiveness, communication and/or clinical
competencies. Your anger will not help you nor him nor your hospital.

As far as I know, Filipino nurses in America is still a minority group
so I can not understand how we, as a group, could affect your
"bargaining strength."
What are you so afraid of? Is our voice that strong enough to
influence management decision-process? I don't believe so.

With regard to your imbecile, robot-like colleague, I wonder if you
ever talked to him and asked what's wrong with him? You know, talk to
him as a PERSON. Perhaps, he/she is acting that way because one,
he/she just found out that he/she's been duped by his American
recruiters and is being paid less than what it should be; two, he
just realized how deplorable his working condition is (esp. working
with someone like you); three, he/she couldn't understand your slang
as he/she only speaks proper English.

Call us trash, call us imbeciles, call us whatever you like. Your
words are a reflection on you, not on Filipino nurses. They are a
reflection of your insecurities, your job dissatisfaction, lack of
cultural understanding and lack of knowledge on international affairs.
I even thank you for bringing up this subject on Filipino nurses
because this gives me the opportunity to enlighten you, Anonymous, on
matters that obviously you have little knowledge of. You are a
disgrace to the American people. Most of the Americans have moved on
since 1944 when the KKK collapsed. This is 2003, hello?

One day, I'm going to work in America. If ever I have the chance to
take care of your loved ones, Anonymous, they will know what "real"
nursing is all about. I'll make sure they will get the best nursing
care there is...Filipino-style.


From: anapma@yahoo.com (anapma@yahoo.com)
Subject: Filipino Motherfuckers
Newsgroups: sci.med.nursing
Date: 2003-10-09 13:23:09 PST

Anonymous,

Congratulations! our comments about "Filipino Motherfuckers" have been
well said...coming from an ignorant like you. You obviously don't have
a clue about Filipinos and more importantly about nursing. If you did
not have any qualms about insulting Filipino nurses, I certainly would
not mind EDUCATING your litle ignorant mind, whatever is left of it.

Anonymous, you may not be aware of it or you may have chosen to ignore
it, that nursing is about love, compassion and understanding for all
people regardless of color, nationality, cultural background, belief
and stature in society. Nursing is about having the time and patience
to talk to those who need companionship. It is about lending an ear to
those who need a patient listener> It is not just about giving pills
or dressing wounds but it is also about giving encouragement to those
who need it. It is about being able to turn of your sense of smell and
smiling at the same time while cleaning up patients who can't help
themselves. It is about answering call lights of patients whose nurses
have gone on their third cigarette break for the entire shift. It is
about talking and listening to patients whom no one else would like to
talk to.

A nurse who is all brains and skills but no heart is no better than a
robot.Fortunately, we Filipinos do not only have brains and the
skills, we also have the biggest hearts. Your comment about Filipino
nurses reflect who you are. I pity the patients who have come under
your care. They did not get the nursing care that they deserve. A
nurse who has no respect for fellow nurses can never give a genuine
"tender loving care".

If you think that we Filipinos are ignorant, complacent and non
pro-active, you are wrong. If you think that we are not aggressive and
would not dare complain because we are only too glad to be here, you
are VERY WRONG!You wouldn't be hearing from me if I were passive. We
just don't waste our time complaining about trivial things. We're
being paid hard earned money (minus the taxes!) that is why we work
hard and give back as much as we can to the institutions we work for.
I assure you that you will be hearing more from Filipinos like me. WE
are not cowards unlike people like you who do not have the guts or
balls (assuming that you are a member of the male species) to reveal
their true identity. We are brave enough to speak our minds because we
know that we speak the truth.

If you think that Filipinos have no contribution to society other than
being "cheap labor" for other countries, you are wrong. The next time
you turn on the lights and see a flourescent bulb or light, think of
us Filipinos whom you have lambasted with your derogatory remarks. We
invented it! If you think about the space program, remember ther moon
buggy. A Filipino invented it.

Anonymous, if you think that "world class" nurses like Filipinos are
able to come to the United States out of sheer luck, you are VERY,
VERY WRONG!It takes a lot of grey matter and guts to be able to go to
the US, UK or anywhere in the world. A Filipino nurse who would like
to work in other countries has to have the proper education and enough
intelligence, skills and compassion of course to be able to succeed in
his or her career. Do not underestimate us, particularly our
educational preparation because no Filipino nurse is without a
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (as in B.S.N.) degree. If you think we
are not good enough, blame the American authors of the books that we
use. You are lucky have been in the US before us (assuming that you
are a naturalborn US Citizen)Had you been a foreigner, you wouldn't
stand a chance!

We Filipinos may come from a poor country, but we are rich in culture,
human resources and natural wonders. We may have fools in the
government,...but what the heck they're all over the place. We may
have been plagued by countless coups, inflation, joblessness, poverty
and natural calamities but we are a resilient nation. No matter how
many times we encounter storms in our history, we always bounce back.
So no matter how many people think like you, you don't deter us from
being the best that we can be.We are proud of who we are and we do our
work with pride. How about you Anonymous, are you proud of who you
are?

Ana Paula Aurelio-Acocoro
Class 1994
University of the Philippines
College of Nursing