Working Series 1: Paid!

My financial (re)dependence on my mother ended when my ATM card yielded those precious pesos. A smile proudly displayed on my face as I held my hard-earned money. I quickly told my mother and close friends of my new-found fortune."You're the property of the people now" was what they said. I understood what that meant. It scares me, I have to honest. Others said, "Palibre!" I smiled. Much as I would want to share the first fruit of labor, I simply couldn't because I had bills to pay. Close to four months of unemployment left me poor and with delayed payments! I had monthly responsibilities to my housing loan and the credit card companies. Only when I have fulfilled those responsibilities would I be able to truly flash my close-up smile again. But I am smiling nonetheless.

The thought of regular income gives me the kind of security that I have been deprived of for many weeks. I have been assessing my spending habits. I must save! A new workmate of mine, an intelligent fellow, presented me with an equation on savings. He illustrated that most Filipinos' idea of saving, and I adhere to this, is

                               SAVINGS = INCOME - EXPENSES

when it should be this:

                               EXPENSES = INCOME - SAVINGS

 Smart fella, huh? or Bobo lang ako?


The fact that it lingered on me meant it had a purpose. I just had to act on it. I thought that my scrimping on things would do it, but, definitely, it's more than that.

View from the overpass in Roxas Blvd

Roxas Blvd

Student Discount

One ordinary day, on my way to work, I handed the driver my ten-peso-coin fare for a short-distance trip. He gave me a five-peso coin and asked me to give him one peso. My numerical incompetence couldn't quickly comprehend the transaction going on then; all I wanted was my three-peso change. I may be Mathematically-challenged, but I'm certainly not disobedient. So, I placed the one-peso coin in his hand, and after some time, I tried putting to practice whatever Algebraic knowledge I had to figure out what had just transpired. When the 'eureka' moment arrived, I simply smiled - he must have thought I was a student! Oh yeah, I just shaved this morning I told myself. I must shave often! I was thrilled at the thought that at my age, 26, I was mistaken for a student, hence, the discount! The joy experienced seemed to have overshadowed the 'right thing to do' which is to say "Hey, Mr Driver, here is my one peso. I'm giving this back since you gave me the wrong change." But nothing like that happened. Did I feel guilty? Surprisingly , no. I realized what immense joy one peso could do to a person. This experience kept me smiling the whole day!