No Offense!

During these times of economic crises, I'm baffled by how so many people are still so complacent about their lives -- particularly about their jobs or their lack thereof.

A lot might raise their eyebrows on this blog entry. Well, I don't mean any offense nor do I mean to judge anyone. I'm just thinking aloud.

Every morning as I get ready for work, I always wonder why so many of my neighbors are still milling about the street in their house clothes -- maybe even their pajamas -- as late as 10 in the morning (The people I see when I leave for work at 7am are the same ones I see during those times when I leave for work later than usual). It just makes me wonder, don't they have work or school to go to? During these times, how can they afford to just bum around?

Take Vanilla's boyfriend, for instance. He keeps telling Vanilla how he'll take care of her, how they'll have kids someday, blah blah blah. And poor Vanilla believes him. Yet how can this be when at 35, he doesn't have a job -- let alone a stable job? He seems comfortable, knowing that he can rely on his siblings who have good jobs.

Granted that it isn't easy to get a job these days, but if you don't even try to look for one, then what does that make you? Then again, there are those who are looking for an "easy" job and would quit at the first sign of difficulty. Isn't any job (as long as it's decent) better than not having a job at all?

FeelingSexy once told me that she's so tired of working and how she wants to stop working already. She has five (I think) kids in Quezon whom she can't support. How can anyone not want to work in these times? Even the well-to-do are striving to make ends meet. I have a lot of friends who are rich enough to do without a job but who still strive to do well in their jobs.

I think that the lack of education is a lame excuse. My mom had a fellow manager before who didn't even graduate from elementary and couldn't read or write and yet succeeded in his job (they were in marketing/sales). The parents of my brother's childhood friend refused to put him through college, so he supported himself and the last time I heard, he was an IT head in one of the big malls in Baguio. Wow, now these are the people I really find admirable!

People always complain about how the rich become richer, and the poor become poorer. And how they blame the government or the economic conditions for this. Well, maybe these are partly to be blamed, but maybe a larger factor in this is the personal drive to reach a goal or to improve one's life. The rich never stop working and worry a lot about tasks not being completed, whereas the financially challenged are very complacent about their lives.

While there are disadvantages to being too driven (stress, unhappiness, etc.) and advantages to being contented with a simple life (relaxed life, satisfaction, etc.), I just think that "intentionally" bumming around is not a solution to anything.

Peace!