On Work

I was eating at our neighborhood barbecue stand when I overheard a bunch of high school boys talking while choosing their choice of meat.

"Naka one thousand ako kakagawa ng book report..."

"Ako five hundred lang"

(laughs)

"Ang sarap kumita ng pera noh?"

I smiled when I heard that line and thought to myself "Just you wait til you get older nyahahaha"

That chance encounter brought a number of memories in my head notwithstanding the fact that this is going to be my last week in my job.

Other than memories it made me think about a number of things about myself and around me.

First is I do agree "Masarap talaga kumita ng pera" specially when you get to enjoy it and when you have nothing to save for otherwise the money you're earning right now might as well be placed in the bank and spent rightly in the direction of investments or whatsoever and if you've got kids well you got the idea.

A friend of mine told me that an officemate of his is going abroad.

Lets call that officemate "Roy"

For years Roy had been living under the amount of lets say 30,000 per month when minused the tax it becomes around 22,000 a month for the take home.

Then one day he decided to work abroad with the same kind of work and the same amount of time spent at work.

He's 26 and he plans on marrying by the age of 28.

I asked my friend how much Roy would earn from the job abroad in a contract of two years.

Without batting an eyelash my friend answered "Uhmm.. around 250,000 per month tax free and he plans on buying his first car after 2 months then a house here after a year then settle back after two years."

I was speechless...

So what does this encounter between the high school boys and the talk with my friend taught me?

Honestly I envy Roy. And I also envy the High School kids.

But It doesn't end there, it ends with the realization that I can be one of them Roy's walking out of this country and looking for better opportunities outside.

It comes with a price though everything always do comes with a price.

I'll leave my loved ones here but I'd rake in more money than I could imagine working 10 years here.

I'd meet more people outside but loose touch with the ones here.

My friend asked me If I'm going to work as a bell boy in a hotel of theirs and earn lets say 100,000 pesos per month would I grab it?

Fact: A friend of mine who's a drop out in college just bought his first car and plans on buying his first house this year after working for 2 years as an assistant art auctioneer in a cruise ship...

He learned how to clip hairs and asks 5 dollars per sailor.

Do you get the picture?

I answered my friend "Hell yes!"

Thing is I am not offered that kind of job and that kind of pay.

I can't even afford to get out of the country, hell I can't even go to other places in the country.

So I'm settling for something else...

"If I can't be rich in this lifetime materially, then I'd be rich intellectually"

So comes law school... but first I have to pass the exam... hell if I can find a part time job I'll take it kakahiya naman sa benefactor ko baka bigla pang mamatay yun waahhh!!!

"Ang sarap kumita ng pera noh?"