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 sabath. 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.