If you’ve been on Twitter today, you might have noticed CLAYGO (short for clean as you go) trending. Why now, of all the days? This all started because of this one tweet that blew up:
I dated 3 guys. 3 guys who laughed at me when I did CLAYGO. Guess what? They all cheated on me.
Don’t trust people who don’t know how to CLAYGO.
— Miki 🌻 (@mikiyuff) January 16, 2020
Miki’s tweet sparked conversations on cheating, its correlation with someone’s willingness to CLAYGO, how social scientists should do research to establish whether the correlation exists, etc. Now, we won’t get into all that (though we totally agree that someone should do research on this), but since the internet is already talking about it, we thought this was the perfect opportunity to sermonize talk about CLAYGO and how cleaning up after yourself is still not the norm in the Philippines.
“Lilinisan naman ni kuya yan.”
Yes Brenda, most/all establishments do have someone who’s designated to clean up, but that doesn’t mean that you should expect someone to clean up your messes at all times, especially if the place is clearly self-service. Dial back on the entitlement, it’s not a good look.
“It’s just part of Filipino culture.”
Really, now?
Just because something is the norm doesn’t mean that we should just throw our hands in the air and give up the idea of making things better. Culture is changeable. Do we really want to be known as a people who can’t be bothered to clean up after ourselves, who are dependent on cheap labor to do the bare minimum?
Imagine CLAYGO becomes another Filipino trait.
“Look at them! Cleaning up their tables”!
“Oh yeah, they’re Filipinos”. pic.twitter.com/7RNWFVSiO0
— Chito Samontina (@chitosamontina) July 13, 2019
“It’s kadiriiii~”
You know what’s more kadiri than touching your own trash? This kind of behavior:
what happened to CLAYGO? 😭 pic.twitter.com/X2vxyTKhXI
— Avicenna🌙 (@lyenkrenz) December 2, 2016
Just gross. Don’t be that person.
“It’s too much effort.”
Cleaning up after yourselves should literally take a couple of minutes—tops. Don’t out yourself as a lazy bastard.
“Wala kasing trash cans.”
I can’t demand everyone to practice CLAYGO here in the Philippines, but if you’re a decent human being, the least you can do is tidy up a bit so it’ll be easier for the staff to clean up your food mess. pic.twitter.com/CPnBIoQxB0
— ˗ˏˋ Kisty ˎˊ˗ (@kistymea) April 30, 2019
The Philippines’ lack of garbage cans is a legitimate concern, but if you can’t find any trash receptacles, why not make your servers’ lives easier by doing a little cleaning up? Place everything in your food tray. Wipe up spills.
“Nobody else does it, so why should I?”
There’s this thing called CLAYGO po. pic.twitter.com/hraNyA0w86
— Ken Co (@KristenStefanel) February 10, 2017
Let me be straight with you: leaving a mess just because other people left a mess is selfish and petty. All of us know the frustration of coming into a fast-food resto and seeing no available clean tables. Follow the golden rule and leave tables clean for the next patrons.
“Baka magmukha akong nagmamagaling.”
It’s sad that we live in a society where you can get flak for simply being a Decent Human Being, but a little ridicule’s a small price to pay for doing the right thing. Caring for your community isn’t just good for others, but also leaves you feeling better about yourself, trust us.
(And if anyone gives you a hard time for practicing CLAYGO, that’s a huge red flag. Maybe it’s time to cut those toxic people outta your life.)
“It won’t make a difference”
The Philippines just needs more people to get the CLAYGO ball rolling—once people see you doing your part, they may be inspired to do the same. And even if they won’t, at least you’ll be doing some good. Ika nga ni Gandhi, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
This is how we CLAYGO after dining in a quick service restaurant.
At the very least, this small act is a big help to the people who put their full effort in giving service to us. pic.twitter.com/e3kul61qKP
— Rex Saberson (@rexsaberson) April 15, 2019
Do you practice CLAYGO in the Philippines? Why/why not? Sound off in the comments below!
