Filipinos are frequently envied. That is why they are sometimes discriminated against. They are well-dressed and wear real jewelry, for one, and that is intimidating to people of other races.

Years ago I was sent twice on training to DC. Naturally I was in groups comprised of colleagues from other countries. I noted that all of them did not read literature and philosophy and were incapable of intellectual conversations. They were employees who did not think for themselves and followed, instead, only what their American supervisors told them. They were shocked whenever I spoke my mind. They resented my expensive jackets and trench coats and the way I shopped for exotic things, not to mention knowing where to find them.

At the end of each day I was just too glad that I was unlike any one of them.