So as not to betray my age, I make it a
point never to talk to young people about the time when:
- as a kid, I would drop silver --
SILVER -- coins inside my piggy bank.
- a bottle of Coke cost 10
centavos.
- my weekly allowance in college was
P30, yet I would regularly ride a taxi from where I lived in Project 4 to my
school in Loyola Heights.
- my mother, when she failed to go
marketing because of the pressure of her work as a teacher, would apologize for
the breakfast of Spanish sardines and huge pan de sals, or dinner of sautéed
Target corned beef made in Argentina.
- the fare from Gapan to Manila was
P12.
- one could get a copy of the Manila
Times for 10 centavos.
- few people had seen a P100 bill,
and even fewer had one in their wallets.
- the minimum wage was four pesos a
day or P120 a month.
Sorry, but the kusing (half centavo) coin had been taken out of
circulation by the time I was born.
Why do I suddenly feel
nostalgic?
Rice and gasoline have shot through
the P40 per kilo/per liter price, that's why.
Groceries worth P1,000 fit inside a
medium sized plastic bag, that's why.
I get a five figure monthly salary
(blush!) and my monthly bills and expenses total five figures, too, that's
why.
I miss the good, old, simple,
inexpensive days. Don't you?
[April 15, 2008]
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