Korean Job Discussion Forums

Paddycakes · Joined: 05 May 2003 Location: Seoul

The next time the Koreans try flipping around your food tray at lunch, just think about this...

Mind you, this story did take place in Da Quebec, and there are a lot of similarities between French Canadians and Koreans...

Filipino child punished in Canada for table manners
The Manila Times - SPECIAL FEATURE
--(By Andy Blatchford, The Chronicle)
Wednesday, April 26, 2006

A Roxboro, Canada, woman has filed a formal complaint with a local school board after her son was disciplined by a lunch program monitor for eating in what she says is a customary Filipino manner.

Luc Cagadoc�s table behavior is traditionally Filipino; he fills his spoon by pushing the food on his plate with a fork, his mother, Maria Theresa Gallardo, said.

But after being punished by the school lunch monitor more than 10 times this year for his mealtime conduct�including his technique�the 7-year-old told Gallardo said last week that he was too embarrassed to eat his dinner.

�Mommy, I don�t want to eat anymore,� Gallardo said Luc told her at the kitchen table April 11. �My teacher is telling me that eating with a spoon and fork is yucky and disgusting.�

When he eats with a spoon and fork, instead of only with one utensil, the Grade 2 pupil said the lunch monitor moves him to a table to sit by himself.

Upset over Luc�s story, Gallardo confronted the lunchtime caregiver the next day and, on April 13, she telephoned the school�s principal, Normand Bergeron.

The principal�s reaction was more shocking. It brought her to tears. �He said, �Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada you should eat the way Canadians eat.��

Gallardo, who is originally from Misamis Oriental, moved to Montreal from the Philippines in 1999. She was a former contract worker and now an immigrant.

�I find it very prejudiced and it�s racist. He�s supposed to be acting like a professional. This is supposed to be a free country with free expressions of culture and religion. This is how we eat; we eat with a fork and spoon,� she said.

Luc�s father, Aldrin Cagadoc, was also surprised by the principal�s comment. �I can�t believe that even the principal would say that,� he said. �A person of his caliber, I wouldn�t expect him to say that.�

Gallardo, who operates a daycare service out of her Roxboro home and is close to completing her studies in early childhood education, wrote a letter last week and lodged a formal complaint with the school authorities.

She disagreed with the lunch monitor�s approach to teaching children how to eat and said it is emotionally upsetting to Luc.

When she questioned Bergeron about punishing students for their table habits, the reply she got was: �If your son eats like a pig he has to go to another table because this is the way we do it and how we�re going to do it every time.�

The principal of the 387-student Roxboro school said he explained his position on using two utensils to Gallardo during their telephone conversation.

�I want them to eat correctly with respect for others who are eating with them. That�s all I ask. Personally, I don�t have any problems with it, but it is not the way you see people eat every day. I have never seen somebody eat with a spoon and a fork at the same time.�

Satori · Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Location: Above it all

Time to pull the student out of school and find a new one, and maybe contact a newspaper or two.

canuckistan · Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 11:22 am Post subject:

Paddycakes, your avatar is Robert Charlebois, non?

Love that guy's beer (Unibroue) and shock of all pleasant shocks: you can buy it here in Colorado Springs! Very Happy

I have a few "La Maudite" sitting in the fridge right now. 9%!!! Very Happy

caniff · Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Location: All over the map

In my opinion, the lunch lady and the principal are absolutely correct.

That kids gonna grow up to never be able to clone nothing, never mind the stem cells he'll never properly manipulate under the mic!! They're just looking out for the kid, ferchrissakes!!

canuckistan · Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 1:47 pm Post subject:

Most likely the child would want to start eating like everyone else around him once he got older anyways--no need to horrify him now.

But ok, if they're so worried about the child "integrating" they shouldn't be giving HIM grief, they should have been way more diplomatic--one of the child's teachers could have spoken to his mom and for example, said: "look it's ultimately your decision, but it could be better for your child to learn to use the same utensils the other kids use...so he doesn't get teased later" sort of thing.
In any case it would have been much better if it had come from his mom. Do you really think the other kids notice or even care at that age?

They handled it like retards and now everyone is upset--especially the child. Brilliant!

Satori · Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Location: Above it all

flotsam · Joined: 28 Mar 2006

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

I think the thread title is unfair to Koreans. (Someone had to say it.)

thekingofdisco · Joined: 29 Oct 2004

I think this is hilarious, coming from a country who only eats with a fork!

Using a knife makes things much easier..

ah well~

Pyongshin Sangja · Joined: 20 Apr 2003 Location: I love baby!

itaewonguy · Joined: 25 Mar 2003

Personally I feel the lunch monitor and principal should both be fired!
its not up to the teachers to teach child how to eat! or take away their customs and ethnic traditions!
so I guess they also go around teaching the kids to say ER after every sentence too?
I wonder if they give the Koreans or japanese a hardtime at those schools
if they pull out chopsticks? I BET THOUGH DONT! becuase they are paying top dollar to study there , so im sure the education government and the principal do what ever they can to keep them happy..
but the poor flip who is now canadian. is being abused! well frankly becuase he is poor and they can get away with it.

patchy · Joined: 26 Apr 2005

Hater Depot · Joined: 29 Mar 2005

That is amazing. In a thread full of whities accusing a fellow whitey of racism and calling for his head and cultural tolerance, and taking sides with Korea, patchy stil decides to accuse everyone of being racist poopheads.

caniff · Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Location: All over the map

Is he a whitey? Gross.

caniff · Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Location: All over the map

I do agree a little bit with Patchy, though. Korean people seem pretty laid back about table manner stuff (as long as you're a foreigner, judging by what I see them let slide with newbies). They mostly just seem to get a kick out of the fact they like Korean food. Unexpected to them. I guess that raises all the questions some of us find so annoying.

Anyway, back to attacking Patchy....