Sunday, September 21, 2008

there was a time eons of years ago, when aksi mat yoyo was still the preferred local kids show, playgrounds were sanded instead instead of rubber-tiled, kids were treated like kids (as opposed to your-majesty-my-emperor that they are now), were a lot tougher (fall, down, brush off, move on) and smelled of salty sweat and stinky socks.

back in those days of polly pockets and segas(i had none of them, never felt sorry for the lack of it) i grew up without barbies- and i grew up just fine. as a kid, i'd not be able to appreciate the fuss was over this smiley plastic beige doll with its spindly legs and equally spindly arms- with their plastic smiles and netted-covered skirts, offering false pretenses of (imaginary) friendship to children- black, brown and beige - friendships to be bought over with paper crisps from the mint. honest to goodness, i never could get it (and i promise you its not the the sour grapes wafting up). and because i could not get the whole concept of talking to a forever-smiling patung, whose neck i could break in a snap, i made the conclusion that kids the world over- must be feeling the same (or maybe only the smart ones do). and the only reason they want to lay their grubby hands on its synthetic hair- is because its the 'in' thing to have (they're not so smart after all). even back then, sinus-ed nose and all, i saw the sad truth and an inevitable corelation between happiness and the materialism-plaguing some of the kids (and their obliging parents).

fast forward 20 years later, and nothing much's change while these eyes may have formed their bags and need their specs, the i-want-whatever-you're-having syndrome strengthens its grips as firm as the spreading roots of an oak tree.

one of the qualities that i'm thankful for in im-is his pragmatism. i love how it compliments my own beliefs. neither of us was born with silver spoons (or any cutlery for that matter) in our wailing, toothless mouths. i'm glad for our sound upbringings by parents who are wise enough to see that the abundance of toys does not equate to an abundance of love , and focus all their attention and energy instead to educating us both through print materials (requests for books were never denied), or otherwise (cos some things just cant be learned from books). they taught us the importance and value of money, to think of rainy days and be wary of extra sunny ones- coupling them with stern reminders that money isnt everything. .

those lessons serve us well.

even now, having our modest licks on financial freedoms, we choose to live simply. a fact that i'm might proud of, if only cos it reflects within us, a certain strength and careless disregard towards the mainstream ideals- lavish weddings, houses full of built-ins and walk-ins (just like barbie, this is one concept i'll never comprehend), and designer-everythings (we cant appreciate what the fuss is about). the only walk-in you'd ever find our house is the front door, really. we prefer to save rather than squander, cash to credit. both of us understand that sugar-coated promises of credit ends abruptly where it begins-on its epidermis layer.
a big, bad wolf in grandma's pantyhoses. 
barbie syndrome-revisited.  

we were never a fan of overspending. this appointed finance minister of this twosome household religiously takes note of every expenditure in our excel sheets- ensuring a stashed amount of reserves every month. as crazy as i may seem over interiors, spendings were mindfully calculated and deliberated first.  for us its simple-if we can afford it, we can choose to have it. but we wont harbour any pretentious intentions to look like we can afford something beyond the depths of our front pockets.

'biar papa, asal bergaya' makes just about as much sense to us as baby garble. 

r.z 2:10 PM  0 comments