Janasburger. A menu I crave every once in a while.

Janasburger. A menu I crave every once in a while.

It's easy to get to, right next to Eurotel. The most expensive item, the Special Burger, is 87 pesos. The other burgers are buy-one-get-one, but the Ping patty sauce has run out. The Special, though, comes with everything the shop has: bread, cheese, bacon, tomato, lettuce, egg, and patty. There are lots of customers too. When you order the Special, the people around you look at you with envy. In this moment, in this place, at this time, I feel like Mansour or Lee Jae-yong. The taste is ordinary, but it's the taste that draws me in.

It's also a burger with memories. I once bought burgers here for four people. Honestly, 87 pesos is about 2,000 won, so it's nothing special. But what was interesting was that when I asked all four, "What do you want? Pick something," all of them ordered the Special Burger.

Finally, I asked the person I bought it for last.

"Okay, I'll buy it for you. But I have one question. When someone offers to buy you something, why don't you ever make even a polite, token refusal? Do you think those polite formalities are unnecessary?? Isn't there anything like that in Filipino or American culture?? And there are medium and cheaper menu items too, but you chose the most expensive one without any hesitation (this part is important, it's the core of the answer I want) — don't you feel any embarrassment?? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"There is a culture of polite refusal. But I don't need it right now. If the offer comes, I'll refuse once. If the offer keeps coming, then I accept. But right now I need a burger, because I'm hungry. There's no reason to refuse out of politeness. And what's embarrassing? You said you'd buy it, and I chose this because I wanted it most."

...I asked the question knowing our cultures differ, but his answer made it seem like our very identities were different. Thinking about it later, I concluded that this question could only elicit an answer I couldn't understand. The mistake was mine, and I should have asked it differently.

And I've already prepared a different question, and I plan to try it next time. There is still so much for me to learn.