But back to Johnny T. My wife replies sharply, "Oh no, ano ginagawa mo! Magkano? Bahala ka na!" No, what do you think you're doing? How much is it? It's up to you! (My apologies to any Pinoy who see my errors in spelling and translation) And they go back and forth like this for perhaps a minute...and then my wife hands him 360 pisos — a little over seven dollars for a forty-five minute ride — perhaps half what we should have paid, and it's a stinging insult, but that's all she paid — just enough to avoid any complaint with the police, but certainly too little to cover his gas at local prices, much less his time. Why? The kid not only took chances with our lives, but he had the impertinence to think that he could get her to pay extra. Just who did that kid think he was?
This time, the kid gambled and lost. As for myself, I thank God yet once again for my Darling. I love her, cherish her, and am inordinately proud of her.
....
The crew will show up in a few minutes to continue painting and fixing up the house - it needs the TLC badly since I'm not here to take care of it on a day-to-day basis. The supervisors get paid about $100 USD for ten days' work, and the workers are paid P300 per day — a little over six dollars. Minimum wage is P380 per day — a little under $8 — but we can do this since we're paying for their commute and food and all tools and materials, and they of course keep the tools. It's a good deal, a win-win proposition.
The crew is all family or close friends, and are as trustworthy as one could expect...and I'll expound upon that in a moment. I know I can trust them because I learned long ago that one gets what one gives. I give them my respect and courtesy and friendship and loyalty - and I do so sincerely, for they would immediately see through any falsity on my part — besides, I never could keep a poker face. In other words, I try hard to treat them as family — and they do the same for me in return.
As I said, they are as trustworthy as one could expect. I can trust them implicitly with the lives and health of me and mine, and I can trust them not to break into anything that I have locked...but by the same token I must take care to make sure I leave nothing laying around such as cash, jewelry, passports, et cetera, because if I did so they would be tempted, and if due to their lives in poverty they succumb to such temptation it's really not their fault, but mine. It's my responsibility to make sure they are not subjected to such temptations.
Article comments
1 - Clarence Yu
Great article. Though I beg to disagree on the system of collecting income and sales tax --- oh, the Bureau of Internal Revenue can be quite creative.
2 - Ruvy
Bang up article Glenn! Your writing reminds me of a less bitter version of Moshe Saperstein. An Israeli humor writer who once wrote for the Jerusalem Post, who wrote essays on life in Nevé Dekalim in Gush Qatif, where he and Rachel had retired to live - and who wrote bitterly of being expelled from his home there by a criminal Israeli regime led by Ariel Sharon.
He too, lives in a slum. Not by choice, or to be near relatives, but because his home was stolen from him.
3 - Glenn Contrarian
Thank you both for the encouragement - it really does help. Maybe this is the better way to become published, by writing about experiences and ironies most Americans don't see - instead of writing long, fictional epics on a grand scale and then watch the torrid pace of technology outdate everything one has written in a matter of months.
Again, thanks!
4 - Jordan Richardson
Nice article, Glenn. I've passed this over to my wife's family (she's Filipino). Very unique, fresh perspective with great lively tone and sharp punches of humour. Well done!
5 - Joanne Huspek
I'm going to have to bookmark this to read again, it was that enjoyable. Nicely done!