"Mamimili"

So here goes the scenario. You walk into a clothing shop and look around for a nice shirt. You go from one rock to another and flip through the merchandise. With a wide array of designs to choose from, you carefully contemplate which one is best to buy. But someone disturbs you too, close, silently hovering near you, just one of the shop's, salespersons.

Unfortunately, you find no shirt that fits your taste, body and/or budget. Even more unfortunately, you feel a compulsion to buy just anything, so that you can prove to the trailing clerk that you are there to buy and not just disturb the display or even steal something. And so you leave the store with a purchase, but without satisfaction.

I believe this is an episode that most people find familiar. Change the venue to a grocery store, a department store, a bookshop or any retail center, chances are, a silent conflict between the customer and the salesperson could exist.

Consider the Filipino term for consumer. The translation is not taga-ubos, tagakain , or tagabili, but mamimili. Its pronounciation is not fast; it does not denote that one i going to buy somethig. Instead, it is slow, which means that one is going to choose from given options. Its root word is not bili (to buy) but pili (to choose). It is only logical, right? We consumers need to choose from many goods the one that is worth buying. But choosing requires conscious deliberation. Be it in seconds or years, the process of making a choice demands thought.