digression: new sneakers
It has come to this. My life has been so meaningless that I am actually elated over cheap sneakers.
After a week of looking, I finally got a decent pair for $80 (it was on sale) from the Lacoste outlet in Gateway Mall, which is the ultimate irony ever to be built on Manila’s scorching soil. The mall stands right smack in the middle of the ugliness that is Cubao, carrying brands like Fornarina so that the third-world peasant class can count their pennies and realize that the amount of money that the middle class pays for ugly pink pumps marketed as ‘Italian fashion’ could already buy them a month’s supply of food.
Public transport drivers and other militant groups in Cubao. Photo by Arkibong Bayan for http://www.bulatlat.com/news/4-6/4-6-jeepneydriving.html
I would like to think that I am socially-aware, and in my own yuppiedoodah way I try to ‘balance’ economic injustice by:
(a) buying things that are on sale,
(b) driving a mid-range car, and
(c) giving to charity.
But at the end of the day, I’m really a stinking snob. I don’t take public transport as much as I should, I eat in ridiculously expensive restaurants, and I spend thousands a month so I do not have to sweat. (Air-conditioning is a luxury around here).
I wonder why I’m still hell-bent on making my life better for no apparent reason. That interior décor magazine cover? That’s how I want my place to look like. And I want to be that woman/man in that commercial on CNN – the one who sips brewed coffee every morning, sitting on an Eames chair watching the stock market on a 1000” flat-screen television, holding a copy of Entrepreneur.
Torture myself, that’s what I do. Every time I hear about how successful start-ups are in the first world, I die a little. Will I ever be able to make the same thing happen here in Manila? Will our business really take off? Will I be able to recruit good employees? Am I really cut out to build an empire? Sometimes I feel like a kid. I don't know what I'm doing half the time.
All I know is I have all this energy and I want to work and work and work until my eyeballs pop out so that I could retire earlier and live comfortably sipping lattes. And then I will feel guilty about my success, but at least I’ll have coffee to blame it on.
After a week of looking, I finally got a decent pair for $80 (it was on sale) from the Lacoste outlet in Gateway Mall, which is the ultimate irony ever to be built on Manila’s scorching soil. The mall stands right smack in the middle of the ugliness that is Cubao, carrying brands like Fornarina so that the third-world peasant class can count their pennies and realize that the amount of money that the middle class pays for ugly pink pumps marketed as ‘Italian fashion’ could already buy them a month’s supply of food.
Public transport drivers and other militant groups in Cubao. Photo by Arkibong Bayan for http://www.bulatlat.com/news/4-6/4-6-jeepneydriving.html
I would like to think that I am socially-aware, and in my own yuppiedoodah way I try to ‘balance’ economic injustice by:
(a) buying things that are on sale,
(b) driving a mid-range car, and
(c) giving to charity.
But at the end of the day, I’m really a stinking snob. I don’t take public transport as much as I should, I eat in ridiculously expensive restaurants, and I spend thousands a month so I do not have to sweat. (Air-conditioning is a luxury around here).
I wonder why I’m still hell-bent on making my life better for no apparent reason. That interior décor magazine cover? That’s how I want my place to look like. And I want to be that woman/man in that commercial on CNN – the one who sips brewed coffee every morning, sitting on an Eames chair watching the stock market on a 1000” flat-screen television, holding a copy of Entrepreneur.
Torture myself, that’s what I do. Every time I hear about how successful start-ups are in the first world, I die a little. Will I ever be able to make the same thing happen here in Manila? Will our business really take off? Will I be able to recruit good employees? Am I really cut out to build an empire? Sometimes I feel like a kid. I don't know what I'm doing half the time.
All I know is I have all this energy and I want to work and work and work until my eyeballs pop out so that I could retire earlier and live comfortably sipping lattes. And then I will feel guilty about my success, but at least I’ll have coffee to blame it on.
posted by Ingrid C. at 12:52 PM
8 Comments:
i love the sneakers. i'm officially jealous. you know me, i go to work everyday in jeans and sneakers even when it's against corporate policy and i have to meet presidents and prime ministers on mundane mondays. i'm so looking forward to see your office. and ohhh, i love your chair. looks so comfortable. : )
and though you cannot be 100% sure all the time about your decisions,i beleive you are doing the right thing. there's no better time like this time. ok, that last bit was made up but you get the drift. you guys will pull it through. sushi! sushi!
Normally we use that word "snob" about others rarely ourselves. Good to hear such an honest and unpretentious statement. I have 5 brand new pairs of trainers (sneakers) which I haven't even worn yet. Well they'll come in handy when I finish growing 10 legs.
Public transport is smelly. I don't somehow imagine Mussolini on a bus. An congruous image.
world domination AND new sneakers.
blimey.
bismuth> you and i will one day have a club for powerful people who wear sneakers to UN meetings.
pv> so, you're somewhat of an imelda marcos, eh? :)
cj> they go hand in hand. :)
Imelda's my middle name!!
... not really. ;-)
Being socially conscious is overrated. Bravo to you.
there's absolutely nothing with working your ass off to have the life you want.
is it ok if i link you up? excessive bloghopping makes me forget the blogs that matter. :)
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