Wall Street and Pinoy Road

It's a Saturday afternoon and I'm just slouching on my bed, practically
being so unproductive.  It has been almost 24 hours since I left work
for my weekend sabbath.  Normally, i would go visit my grandchildren,
but I decided to stay home and spend  my alone time.  It gives me the
much needed retrospection and meditation after the bustling week that
just transpired.

Last week was a  hectic and trying week for
many a wall street people in New York.  I should know because I work
for one executive of Lehman Brothers.  He is the nicest, most
respectable, down-to-earth person and one of the best employers I have
ever had.  And he became a victim, like so many other mid-level
executives, by that gruesome Chapter 11 decision.  Why do bad things
happen to good people?  I really wouldn't know but if I speculate,
greed must have had a say in this.

Every few minutes or so last
week, i would turn on the financial channel.  Linggos of mergers, lay
offs, tax cuts, bankcruptcy and other economic jargons continue to hit
the airwaves.  Not one commentator or talk show host passed without
giving their thoughts on these matters.  Even the presidential
campaigns took a back seat for the moment.

In our household, it
was never a dull moment.  Friends would call offering words of
comfort.  Or others would just email their sentiments or send funny
messages to alleviate downcast spirits. Even mere acquainances would
just ring the Mrs. letting her know how good and respectable a man my
employer is.

Then there were talks of how the "creme de la
creme" of the once dairy lot were coping after the economic fiasco was
spilled.  Oh!  So bad for Mr. So  and So, he had to sell his 40 million
dollar vacation homes at the Hamptons!  I wonder if he will also sell
his Manhattan penthouse?  Or that Poor Mr. Dodo Head can't go to work
anymore in his helicopter since it got sequestered by the bankcruptcy
court.  Or Mr. Poopoo Brain's wife can't shop anymore at Tiffany's or
at any stores in 5th Avenue.  She'll have to make do with Target or
T.J. Maxx.  Poor Thing!

After hearing all these comments all
over, my thoughts shifted to my home country in the Philippines. 
During economic crisis, like rumors of increasing gas prices or news of
possible storms, people with money went on a panic buying spree. 
Others just panicked for lack of funds.

People in crisis often react similarly, yet quite different in a way their circumstances prevail them to.

The
Wall Street crowd have to stop going to Starbucks, refrain from eating
fillet mignon at fancy restaurants, ride subways instead of bringing
their own cars and just watch tv instead of going to broadway musicals.

The
Pinoy Street crowd have a similar belt tighting scenarios like making
baon 3 in 1 coffee pouches,  bring home dinner from the street vendor
or what we sometimes call the McDuko Duko and BMW's are good forms of
transportation (Baktas Mentras Wala).  Not to mention that the
neighborhood drama of screaming and slapping a wayward husband is so
much better than TV.  It's surreal and in full color, sensuround pa. 
Besides electricity is so expensive.

The Wall Street Crowd
have to cut down in buying Armani black suits or Ferragamo shoes, Mont
Blanc pens, and cut off the weekly massages, barbers and spas.  This
helps the budget go farther.

However, this is one luxury the
Pinoy Crowd has over the other.  There will always be Armani clothes
and Ferragamo shoes for as long as there is ukay ukay.  (the suits come
in handy for mountainfolk  because of the cool air).  And whoever heard
of Mont Blanc pens, Bic ballpens are reliable.  As for massages, hair
cuts and manicures, every pinoy has a relative who does all those for a
living.  So no need to cut down, since you can get them free at family
gatherings.

The basic difference between families of Wall Street
and Pinoy Road are the number of zeros in their balance sheets.  The
zeros are the determining factors in people's way of life as dictated
by society.

Change to a different lifestyle is often difficult
when the level of comfort has been altered.  We may often feel
embarassed for our failures and  finger point on who's to blame,  not
realizing that control comes from within and not from outside forces. 
Characters are often revealed not as a result of some circumstance, but
rather how we react to  adversities.

Wisdom is the fundamental
tool that is functionally used in resolving dysfunctional relationships
and situations.  Wisdom is acquired through experience, and experience
is acquired through failures .

So whether one is from Wall
Street or Pinoy Road, the journey is never done till one says so.  And
travelling people never quit, they just take a different path to reach
the destination.