The Values
American Way - You're on your own. If you work hard enough, you can do anything you want or be anything you want to be.
Filipino Way - You live for your family. Anything you ever do is for your family, to make them better off.
What happens if you want both?...
There was once a Filipino family: two parents and their son. They lived a pretty stable life. Both of the parents had jobs from 9-5, the son would have school, and the family had each other. The parents decide to open up a restaurant. From 9-5, they go to their regular day jobs and from 5-12, they go to the restaurant to work. After 2-3 years, the restaurant becomes a success. The restaurant and its owners make headlines and they were on their way to becoming the next big restauranteurs. The parents began buying SUVs, beamers, and benzes. The son would ask for Nike shoes and the parents would buy him two. Eventually, the parents were reduced to an ATM machine and the parents didn't mind. But you can't pay your way through parenthood. In time, the son would enter high school. He met some very impressionable friends. And after what seemed to be the blink of an eye, the boy found himself in a Filipino gang and in jail. The gang had been involved in a drive-by shooting and the son was the driver. His case was brought to trial and the parents hired a lawyer because that was their baby and they would do anything for their baby. Of course, the boy would lose the trial and was sent to a federal prison. The lawyer urged the parents to follow up the case or else their boy would be locked up for life. The parents lost everything. They lost their restaurant, their savings from paying the lawyer, and they lost their son. Now, the parents spend their days, without words, eating their meal with a fixed gaze on the television screen like zombies. And they wonder...they wonder if they could have done something, done anything, to save their baby.
Filipino Way - You live for your family. Anything you ever do is for your family, to make them better off.
What happens if you want both?...
There was once a Filipino family: two parents and their son. They lived a pretty stable life. Both of the parents had jobs from 9-5, the son would have school, and the family had each other. The parents decide to open up a restaurant. From 9-5, they go to their regular day jobs and from 5-12, they go to the restaurant to work. After 2-3 years, the restaurant becomes a success. The restaurant and its owners make headlines and they were on their way to becoming the next big restauranteurs. The parents began buying SUVs, beamers, and benzes. The son would ask for Nike shoes and the parents would buy him two. Eventually, the parents were reduced to an ATM machine and the parents didn't mind. But you can't pay your way through parenthood. In time, the son would enter high school. He met some very impressionable friends. And after what seemed to be the blink of an eye, the boy found himself in a Filipino gang and in jail. The gang had been involved in a drive-by shooting and the son was the driver. His case was brought to trial and the parents hired a lawyer because that was their baby and they would do anything for their baby. Of course, the boy would lose the trial and was sent to a federal prison. The lawyer urged the parents to follow up the case or else their boy would be locked up for life. The parents lost everything. They lost their restaurant, their savings from paying the lawyer, and they lost their son. Now, the parents spend their days, without words, eating their meal with a fixed gaze on the television screen like zombies. And they wonder...they wonder if they could have done something, done anything, to save their baby.
posted by Cas Ruffin | 9:55 PM
2 Comments:
i'd have to say that the Filipino Way is applicable to basically all Asian families.
you talking 'bout sanam?
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