In the mornings I like to get out of the office and go for a coffee with one of our site supervisors. It's one of the rare chances I get to actually have a meaningful and enjoyable conversation with someone, and to find out the finer details of what's going on at site.
There's a cafe next to our office that has recently opened and whilst the coffee is the instant-all-in-one-out-of-packet (meaning that you can have it any way you like so long as it's white and sweet), it's more convenient than the sweaty walk to the nearest other coffee shop (a Philippines Starbucks type chain) that does a very respectable iced cafe latte.
Today we've gone there and we're served by the waitress/waiter - it's difficult to categorise as it's a lady-boy who is still more boy than lady: more like a cage fighter in dress. Sitting outside it was almost impossible to have a conversation as there's an outside speaker connected to a sound system, and as usual it's playing at full volume. I politely asked the waiter/waitress if they could possibly turn the volume down a little bit.
A moment later the music goes off completely.
Not entirely a bad thing, at least a conversation was then possible. The cafe's owner comes out and joins us for a quick chat. He's a cheerful, happy go lucky type who actually talks rather too much but he's affable enough so it's hard not to be accommodating. As he gets up to leave I tell him, in a light hearted way, that I'd asked his staff to turn the volume down, not off.
A moment later the music comes back on at full volume.
Perhaps there is no volume control, just an on/off switch. Our table is joined by 3 other Filipinos and they're all shouting at each other to make themselves heard over the din and, incidentally, all speaking at once. For them, this is normal. To me, it's hell on earth.
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