::S p U n K y D a i S y::

Friday, March 12, 2004

SCENES FROM AN FX AND SOME LESSONS LEARNED FROM IT

I can't believe i forgot to blog about this.

Last week, our production manager and yours truly, were inside an FX in Taft going to divisoria. I was seated at the back and our production manager was seated infront, beside the driver. Seated beside me was a girl who looked younger than me and right infront of her was this middle-aged guy. From their conversation (i couldn't help but listen), i gathered that the girl was a japayuki and the guy was from some sort of recruiting agency.

A woman and an old japanese guy came in. The woman sat in the middle part and the japanese guy sat in front of me. Turns out, they rode the wrong FX so the driver had to pull over to let them out. So this woman turns to the Japanese fella in front of me and starts speaking in Japanese. And then this recruiter guy starts talking to the Japanese guy in Japanese too! Before getting down, Japanese guy says "Arigato" to the recruiter. That was the only thing i understood.

Lo and Behold, the indian seated in the middle area of the FX starts talking...

Indian: These japanese and koreans, they come from rich countries but they don't know how to speak english. And they're very rich but they don't want to take taxi. Kuripot na sila. Dati, sa mga club, they spend 10,000, 20,000 a night. They don't care. Pero ngayon, marunong na. 2,000 na lang ginagastos nila.

Old Lady beside indian: naturuan na kasi ng mga pinay na maging kuripot.

The Indian guy asks the old lady where she's from and the lady tells him she's from Bicol.

Indian: Naku, kuripot mga tao sa Bicol. Hirap maningil ng mga utang diyan. Benta ako appliances diyan dati. Gasolina pa lang lugi na ako. Pag wala ani, wala silang pera. Pero mga tao sa Naga and Legaspi, mabilis magbayad.

By this time, i was already completely annoyed--but interested. Later on, this talkative indian guy will actually make a good point...read on.

Indian: i have been in Manila for 20 years. I don't believe that the Philippines is poor. Basta masipag ka lang dito, yayaman ka. Alam mo mga jeepney, fx and taxi drivers? laki kita nila. They earn 800-1000 pesos a day. Times 30 mo yun? Magkano yun?

Eto naman si old lady from bicol...actually computes and answers...(math contest anyone?)

Indian: Meron ako friend, nagre-repack ng fish crackers....tubo niya sa isang balot 30 pesos. Tapos punta sya sa mga school, benta siya doon. On an ordinary day, he'll sell 20 packs, times 30 mo yun? magkano yun?

Compute and answer naman ulit si old lady from bicol (uto-uto, hehehehe!)

By this time, we were already in China Town and we were going to get off very soon...

Indian: O kaya, yung mga cellphone casing? Meron ako friend, bili siya ng mga cellphone casing..tag-30 pesos lang yan sa divisoria, pag madami ka pa kunin, maka-discount ka pa. Tapos yung friend ko, benta niya yan sa mga club. Mga GRO mahilig sa cellphone casing, gusto nila everyday iba iba kulay. Benta ng friend ko for 50 pesos each. Hindi yan aalis ng club hanggang makabenta siya ng 20 pcs nun, gabi gabi.

We were about to get off when i hear our production manager tell the driver..

Production Manager: Manong, ibaba niyo na po kami dito, maghahanap po ako ng cellphone casing!

Everyone in the FX laughs. And still, that didn't stop the indian from saying something...

Indian: Naku, wala nagbebenta cellphone casing ngayon. Tuesday, thursday and saturday pa sila nagbebenta.

And so we get off from the FX, laugh for a while and we walk...

But what the indian guy said is true, instead of incessantly complaining that there are no opportunities in this country, why don't we try being more smart, industrious and resourceful? Now that i think about it, the problem with us Filipinos, is we don't want to start small...gusto natin, "Big time" agad. Thing is, not everyone is that lucky. We're always so concerned about our "image". We don't want to be caught in a situation where if someone asks us what we do for a living, all we have to say for is, "i sell fish crackers" or "i sell cellphone casings". On that note, why do some of us have the tendency of looking down at people who have these kind of jobs? Why do some of us think its so low? Why do we actually think we're more successful than they are? For all we know, they make and will make more money than us. We're so judgemental. I was never really fond of that indian guy but damn, he made such a good point.

If you actually read Gokongwei's, Lucio Tan's and Henry Sy's success stories, you'll find that they didn't start out rich, that they persevered to be where they are now. I want to be like that.

Bunny @ Friday, March 12, 2004

about moi

Loves the beach, wishes she had more time and money to travel, recently got hooked to climbing mountains, reads anything she can get her hands on, frustrated writer, adores her 3-year-old Lhasa Apso, Tashi, constantly needs caffeine, ~~wonders when she'll quit smoking~~, and will most likely die due to liver complications from drinking too much ~~(if the cigarettes doesn't get to her lungs first)~~. Can't live without accessories especially big, dangling earrings, shoe freak (aren't we all?), sucker for discovering hole-in-the-wall restaurants, will ingest anything spicy, enjoys giving and receiving massages, addicted to Friends, Sex and the City and CSI, goes gaga over kids, dreams of being alone with Jim Morrison and smoking a joint with Bob Marley. Would love to party with Gwen Stefani, shop with Patricia Field, write poetry with Maya Angelou and have Sting, Nelson Mandela, Mark Twain and Bono over for dinner.

View my complete profile