here in dubai there is a large population of philippinos, most of whom work as shop assistants, at check outs, and basically do low paid customer service jobs (they refer to themselves/other philipps as kabayan).
similarly odd to the indian population, who come up with expressions, such as ' kindly refer to ...' 'what is your good name', the philippinos always greet you by saying:
'Hi Sir'.
i find the informal hi, and the super formal sir don't really go together, and wondered who taught them to combine two conflicting levels of english in one greeting. it just doesn't go together and sir is hardly ever used anyway... at least not when someone serves you in a shop...
