Deviance Day

Deviance Day: Balloon Vendors

Albion Ong

John Philip Peralta

Ali Timonera
SA21-Q

Who is the identity you want to imitate? Why did you choose this identity?

Balloon vendors, being part of this informal economy along with other street vendors, face more uncertainty than regular entrepreneurs. They don’t have regular customers and recently, legislators and municipal authorities throughout the country have tackled the issue of selling on the streets. The general direction of their reform and enforcement efforts have not been favorable to the vendors. If regulations don’t explicitly ban these vendors, they hamper it by limiting the number of licenses.

However, these street vendors are still all over the city. Balloon vendors can be found near schools, churches, parks, and malls. Their number and continuous existence proves that people buy from them. Thus, the group chose this identity to be able to experience the societal pressures and the rejection and acceptance from the people.

What is your identity’s main function in the society?

Street vending as an occupation has existed for hundreds of years and is considered a cornerstone of many cities’ historical and cultural heritage. They are an integral part of economies around the world especially in urban areas. These vendors serve as distributors of affordable goods and services and, they provide consumers with convenient and accessible retail options (Bromley 2000). Thus, these balloon vendors function as distributors of affordable balloons in a manner that is convenient and accessible to the people.

The act itself, balloon vending, can also be seen as a refuge occupation, just like other street vending jobs, where low barriers to entry make it possible to earn a subsistence income. Balloon vendors usually buy their balloons from the suppliers for P10.00 or less depending on the supplies and would sold it for P30.00 as the lowest to P50.00. Vendors usually earn P300 to P500 on average and would go as high as P1000.00 on good days. In addition, street vending also offers a more flexible or otherwise attractive employment option than wage or salaried work because it as a way of avoiding the costs of operating a formal storefront business (Bromley 2000).

How does he/she look like? (clothes, gears like cellphone if any?, skin, hairstyle, nails, physical appearance—observe everything!)

Clothes

Balloon vendors wear casual clothes that a normal Filipino would wear when he/she goes out. They always start with clean clothes however, as the day goes, the pollution and dirt in the streets get into their clothing.

Both men and women wear t-shirt or long sleeves. Those who station in the park and places that there is shade would usually wear t-shirt while those who sell under the direct heat of the sun (outside malls or amusement parks) wear long sleeves. They wear either a baggy pair of shorts or pants: maong or cargo. They also sometimes wear makeshift hoods innovated out of a T-shirt or large handkerchief and caps.

For their footwear, they either sport slippers or rubber shoes, the ones that clearly look like they are knock-offs. One of the vendors that the group interviewed prefers slippers because they are significantly cheaper, even compared to knock-off rubber shoes, and are easier to clean.

As any low-income earner in the Philippines, they usually buy their clothes in a palengke. However, Jason, one of the interviewees, said that on Sundays, he would go to Quiapo and Divisoria along with his family to buy clothing and other stuff. Their clothes usually cost P150.00 to P300.00.

Accessories

In terms of their accessories, they either have a cap on, or a face towel covering their heads, and they have arm sleeves, some of which have designs that look as if they have tattoos and body art. The clothes they wear are mostly for protection from the harsh heat of the sun. Some wear watches and others don’t. Others have mobile phones with them. These are usually the dumb phones that are able to call and text. Surprisingly, Flor, one of our interviewees, own a touch screen phone that costs around P8000.00. However, she says that she hasn’t fully paid the device to her kumare.

Hygiene

In terms of personal hygiene, balloon vendors are not what one would call the ideal. Due to working under the heat of the sun, it could not be avoided that they perspire a lot and that their skin would be either burned or darkened. Also, their hairstyles are unlike those seen on trendy youngsters, who have undercuts, mohawks, debonair parts, rather they either have the faded cut, the “semi-kal” or the “barbers cut”. At times, they have marks on their skin that may come from working in the dirty and crowded streets, and the dirt in their clothes come from the pollution from vehicles passing. Their hands are relatively clean and there’s only little dirt under their nails.  

The Person

Overall, their looks don’t much differ to the average-income Filipinos except that they are more exposed to the dirty environment of the streets that causes the unhygienic look. They are also exposed to a high concentration of air pollutants and to inclement weather.

How does he/she speak and behave?

How they talk to people

Balloon vendors rarely speak or shout their products since the balloons already gather a lot of attention. Jason tends to walk more and wait for people to call their attention before he starts to engage in a full transaction or conversation to customers. They do speak from time to time to inform people of their presence, saying “Balloon ho, bili kayo ng balloon.” However, this is done in a mild mannered way, unlike the vendors of taho and balut that scream and belt out the goods they are vending.

Like most low-income earning Filipinos that work in areas like Divisoria and Quiapo, they speak mostly Tagalog, some who come from the provinces speak their native tongue together with those whom they call as “kababayan.” Apart from speaking Tagalog, they also speak a lot of slang appropriate only in their area as it refers to most things around the immediate vicinity. The two vendors that the group interviewed did not finish high school. However, both of them can read and write.

Flor, one of our interviewees, tends to talk to buyers in a mild manner but clearly as if the buyer is on a higher level. She uses words like “ho” and “po”, “ma’am”, “madam” and “sir”, just to name a few. They have the mentality that their customers are superior in every way and so they try to please them as much as possible.

How do they laugh and joke

Among their fellow street vendors they are more open. they are able to joke around with them and consult about personal matters. They are able to use their slang among each other as well as joke about things pertaining to the community and the people who live or work in their community. Our interviewee, Jason, knows a knock-knock joke called “If Fire Apoy” which was sang like Beyonce’s If I Were A Boy.

What are their beliefs in life? What are their values?

From the two interviewees, Flor Espina and Jason Perez, the group was able to get three perspectives/beliefs.

“Mangarap lang”

The first is that you must have a big goal to drive you. Both Flor and Jason wanted to earn enough to allow their son and daughters attend college, something that would have been unimaginable when Jason was growing up in a place where even food was hard to come by. When he hits obstacles, which is often for a vendor, he keeps himself going by keeping his big goal in mind, a better education and life for his sons and daughters.

“Sa pangarap kasi nagkakaroon ng direction ang buhay”, says Jason. Although he acknowledges that getting his 3 daughters and son to college is a long shot, it inspires him to continue working and he even gets multiple jobs. He sells balloons in the day and balut at night. In some months, he gets employed as a construction worker to some small construction company. He believes that the only thing that stops him from realizing his dreams is himself. He then goes to advise to use naysayers as motivation to prove them wrong.

“Magsikap at huwag magnakaw”

Flor believes that you truly have to work hard to get what you want. She says that there are a lot of people out there touting shortcuts to success and secrets of making a quick money but she’s not impressed. She believes that those who didn’t work hard to earn money don’t deserve it. In addition, she believes that most likely it was stolen from someone. She then gives example of the politicians and Janet Lim Napoles as crooks who stole from the people’s money.

According to Flor, to get ahead people have to make sacrifices. Flor gets up at five every morning to prepare his children for school then works all day every day to provide for her children. Although her new partner stays at home where he repairs television and other appliances, she still goes out to sell balloons just so she can give additional income for the family. They live in a tiny one-room house in an informal settlers area.

“Manalig sa Panginoon”

Flor continues to preach that the Lord has control over everything. “Lahat ng nakikita natin gawa ng Panginoon at kung ano tayo ngayon ay dahil sa kanya,” she says. Thus, she doesn’t complain about her life. She believes that there is a reason why she’s selling on the streets, have three sons, and why her husband left her. Although it is hard for her, she doesn’t let all the negativity in her life put her down and continues to thank the Lord for everything.

Synthesis of the beliefs and values

From these, the group observed how the belief system and values that the balloon vendors have are socially constructed, which is why they are very much common in the their social class. Since they belong to the lower strata of society having little power, influence, and capability, they consider most of their ambitions as long shot. Although these people could easily just slack off and maintain their social status, society has created this idea for them to mangarap lang for them have an inspiration to keep up productivity, which our society needs. In addition, the idea of magsikap and that it equates to success could be seen as a social construct designed to prevent those who belong in the lower classes to commit crime. Thus, Flor continues to earn an honest living. Lastly, religion allows the people to accept their “fate”. As Marx stated, religion serves as a sanctuary from the harshness of everyday life and oppression by the powerful.

How does his or her day look like?

From the two vendors, the group learned that they would usually start selling late in the morning depending on the time of recess/breaks in schools (10am-12nn) or the time when mass in churches start. Flor wakes up at 5 in the morning to prepare her kids for school. She goes to the market to buy food for her children. By 8 o’clock, she would’ve finished all the chores at home then goes to Divisoria to buy her balloons. She buys the balloons for P10.00 then sells them for as high as P50.00 to as low as P30.00. She sells them outside Quiapo Church and by the end of the day, she would get P300.00 to P500.00 as net income. Usually, mothers would buy from her and would give them to their children. She then goes home by 7 o’clock in the evening and cooks for her kids.

On the other hand, Jason wakes up at 8 o’clock in the morning and immediately buys the balloons from a supplier in Caloocan. His supplier sells the balloon to him for only P8.00 then immediately starts selling the balloons in the area near churches and schools. He does this until the sun sets then heads home to eat dinner with his family. Then, he walks a few blocks away from his home where he would get the balut that he would sell until midnight.

Any sociological+personal reflections ? How did it feel being another person for a day.

Personal Reflection

As students of the Ateneo, to be a balloon vendor/peddler for a day is some what a humbling experience. Although it was hard to fully embody the character because people know what we are doing, seeing the difficulty of selling or engaging people to take one of our balloons makes us see the patience and hard work this vocation demands from the vendors. Also, not being used to the life of peddling was an issue to some of us who were not used to interacting with people whom we do not know nor have any relation to ourselves. There was so much need, however, to engage people such that we may earn from the balloons we were bringing around campus. It just goes to show how much the ability of vendors to interact with strangers and with people are always being tested and hopefully enhanced.

Sociological Reflection

The Importance Research in Sociology

The success of the deviance day parade hinged on the participation two important "events": The convincing portrayal of an identity vastly different from the student who portrayed it, and the evaluative reactions of the unwitting school community, which would give the students an idea of how well they acted in-character. These two events, though seemingly simple and straightforward, blankets and synthesizes many concepts that had been taken up in class.

In creating the identity, the group first had to gather data on the balloon vendors, and the group had to make use of certain research methods in order to extract useful information on them. Physical qualities such as demeanor, clothing, and mannerisms were best learned through anonymously observing vendors on a normal day, whereas learning more about the kind of reality they lived had to be done through interviews, since it wasn't something that could be observed, and extremely local and contextual information like it couldn't really be found through research.

Creation of a Social Map

Consolidating all the information and stock knowledge on balloon and street vendors into something the group could "act out" was essentially creating a social map of the "balloon vendor" identity. Why would the vendor act in certain ways? Did some mannerisms or characteristics stem from their role as as breadwinners of their families, or did it stem from a particularly powerful principle or need? Common to the group's interviewees was the need to send their children to school, which could explain their persevering attitude to continue selling, although peddling balloons would not normally be considered a viable livelihood. Balloon vendors also shared roles as "street vendors" with all the other people would also peddle their wares on the streets, which meant that the group could also include similar people in their research, and take note of shared qualities, such as clothing, walking patterns, as well the manner in which they engage customers. During the parade proper, the group also had to be alert enough not to let the mannerisms attached to their roles as students encroach on the role set they were supposed to play.

The Dramaturgy

The group recognized the concepts of Dramaturgy when they began to act the part of balloon vendors. Hilarity aside, it was almost eerie how the group easily “put on” their preconceived idea of what a street balloon vendor was, and tried, though with some difficulty, to disengage from their role as Ateneans. It affirmed how real Goffman’s idea of an individual merely putting on a role that was waiting for them- costumes and verbal tics included.

Mead’s I and Me

The sincerity in playing the role of vendors would come from being aware of the underlying motivations and background of balloon vendors, similar to how an actor would create a convincing character by trying to “embody” the character’s personality. This could be likened to Mead’s idea of the “I”. The group subconsciously tries to see the impulses and desires that govern even the subtlest gestures of the character- and act it out according to the expectations of the community- to portray the appropriate “Me”, according to Mead. For example, the group would speak respectfully and in meek, slight monotone to customers, since this signals disengagement and boredom- and might reflect the kind of tedium of having to sell balloons in the same vicinity for extended periods of time. The respectfulness stems from the supposed social gap between the customer and a seller, and the gap between being an outsider speaking to an Atenean while within campus. At the same time, the “I” is being held back to conform to the expectation of the community (Ateneo). Thus, our normal impulses are held back to perfectly act what is expected of us.

Deviance

Finally, the parade uses concepts of deviance to differentiate a convincing act from a poor act. If the group’s portrayal of balloon vendors were completely convincing, the people they approached would act as though they were dealing with balloon vendors, and not students masquerading as balloon vendors. Unfortunately, the group ran into many people who knew them personally, and remaining in character became difficult while being asked questions and being poked fun at. In these cases, the people who knew the group members recognized that they weren’t acting like their usual selves, and tried to get them to “return to normal” by asking “Anong ginagawa mo?” or calling them out by saying they could recognize them. The group managed to smoothly deflect these by responding to both the recognition while still playing the balloon vendor- by saying something like“Pare… bili ka ng balloon”. Foreign students had the “best reactions”, since they were probably not completely socialized in the local community, and were not aware of the breaching experiments sometimes performed in campus. They ignored the group in the same manner one would ignore a vendor on the street and avoided eye contact. In the end, the act was more or less a success, as many people, students and employees alike, entertained the group as balloon vendors and bought balloons.

Image 1: Some students that bought from the group.

Works Cited:

Bromley, Ray. Street Vending and Public Policy: A Global Review. International Journal of  

Sociology and Social Policy. January, 2000. Journal Article.

Espina, Flor. Personal interview. 6 October 2014.

Perez, Jason. Personal interview. 6 October 2014.

Interviewee details:

Jason Perez, 32 years old, Married with 3 daughters and 1 son.

Flor Espina, 29 years old, Separated with 2 sons.