Who would've thought that something admirable or probably respectful in a sense could sometimes (no, make that often) come across as an insult or some sort of discrimination or age classification (i.e. turning out judgmental)?
I'm talking about some Filipinos' penchant for the proverbial 'po, opo, ho, sa inyo (in addressing an apparently more senior person) which while supposedly intended to respect the person being addressed is sometimes indicative of a preconceived notion about others. In other words, some form of unintentional slur (not unlike gender or racial discrimination).
Case in point - there are some 'well-meaning' folks who perennially address others with 'po' or 'opo' as if it was written on the forehead of the person being referred to that he/she is older by more than a decade to that person who is talking. What is quite fascinating and at the same time insulting about this is when you look at the person speaking, he/she looks in fact much older than the one being addressed with a 'po' or 'opo'.
I'm not totally against such respectful address and it is quite prevalent especially among social classes when let's say a housemaid or a driver or someone belonging to a lower class that even if they are considerably older they address their 'señoritas' or young masters or mistresses or the boss with the ubiquitous 'po' or 'oho'. That is more a sign of deference for someone above you. I also don't like this particular practice as if you're demeaning yourself but it has become the norm.
But I'm talking about the different kind of speaking to somebody with that 'po' inserted into the conversation if there is no social class difference but just out of the mistaken notion of the one who is talking that he/she is much younger when in fact they look just the same age or even older. That is what gets me.
I don't know about you but that is just my thing. Now, at my age now I wouldn't mind being addressed as such IF (yes, that's a big if alright) the person addressing me is in his/her teens or probably the age of my nephews or nieces. That is generally expected. But I don't hide the fact that I get a little offended and tend to give the person a once-over if I was addressed with a 'po' by someone who appears and indeed is much older than me. I mean, hey, do I look like your aunt or mother? Just saying! I can tolerate that kind of address if I know I'm at least 10 years his/her senior but give or take a year or 5 yrs or so difference, that is not an excuse to just willfully and mindlessly blurt out the 'po, opo, sa inyo, kayo' artillery to someone. Get my drift?
See, the thing is while we complain about discrimination over gender, social class, race, etc some of us are judgmental in the sense that we are also discriminatory (consciously or unconsciously) when it comes to age. It's like a subtle way of putting yourself on the pedestal of 'youthful' appearance vs the one being addressed. Like categorically saying that the other person looks older while you look like in your teens. I for one do not make it a habit to talk to someone with a po or opo even if they are older by up to 10 years than me. Not mean to be disrespectful but in fact it's just my way of telling the other person that we're equal. That I am neither being irreverent nor am I trying to demean myself (as opposed to someone who says po or opo to someone belonging to a higher social status).
The Tagalog language it seems is kind of quirky in this sense by adding po or opo in a conversation which may signify reverence but on the downside can be perceived as a slight slur on someone's appearance or age for that matter.
So I hope that some people will realize that such words when added into the conversation doesn't hint on anybody's superiority or inferiority or seniority. At times, it can just be simply annoying so lay down a bit on that. okay 'po' ba??
