(La versión es Español viene dentro de poco. )
My first experience with the business world was at an early age. My family had a small store in our likewise small town, our house was the store. Back in my young days (and by that I mean when I was 5-6 years old), I was sort of a republican. What is that? Well, besides cheering for the right on the political arena, I also had a strong interest in businesses/ making money any way possible. The best way to do so, unfortunately, is stepping on/tricking people. My first ‘businesses’ started at my parents shop. I helped my parents with the store (euphemism for “my parents made me stay in the store serving as a 16/7 clerk”). I bought a ‘carton de Chiras’ [literally a balloon cardboard set]. It came with balloons of different sizes and shapes attached to it, numbered from 1 to 120. There was also another square cardboard with semi-cropped circles on it. On their reverse, (the side facing inside of the double layer/sided cardboard square), were the numbers 1-120. The biggest and most coveted balloon was number 31. My business was a lottery game; all you had to do to win #31 was to buy a circle, get it out of the cardboard and hope that your number was 31 (or any number which corresponded to a nice big balloon). What people did not now, however, was that I cheated . I would take out the staples so I could open the cardboard square, in order to take out circle #31 and others, so my first client would think someone else had played the lottery before him. Thus, people could never win the biggest balloon and they would keep buying numbers hoping to have more chances to win it. In most cases I would keep the prettiest balloons. And in the end I would make 200 or 150% of my original investment. It was a dirty and lucrative business. I would save hundreds of Colones (national currency at that time) and buy some of the coolest robots and eat pretty darn good food. Sometimes I would even lend money to my mom when we went shopping.
My parents, on the other hand, were goodhearted people; and in most cases rather naïve. Because we are from a small town many people knew each other, my mom was from the village next to our town, so they also knew each other besides being, somehow, related to each other. People over there could always make a connection to another people assuring that they were “cousins of the nephew of your grandmother’s brother” (or so it went). So they would come to my mom and dad and ask for credit while they stated how they were related to my mom which served as their IOU (I owe you). I always complained, and protested against their way of doing businesses, but my mom would tell me that she could not say no to them because she new some of those people did not have enough money, and she felt she was helping then by giving them credit.
By letting people take small and large amounts of merchandise with a simple and not signed promise of “I WILL pay you,” my parent’s business went bankrupt (combined with a car accident). We stopped having a comfortable life. I could no longer continue with my business which depended on my parent’s store clientele. As time passed by, I grew older and I stopped being such a rotten/spoiled kid. Before, a maid would dress me up… now I had to do it for myself, for we had no maid anymore.
NOW:
More than a dozen years later, I look back at my past with great shame . And I cannot help but point out the sharp differences between myself and myself from the past. Now I am a democrat and proud socialist (get it right please, Socialism ≠Communism). I hate businesses /economics and everything that has to do with it. I dislike this consumerist lifestyle that rules the world and that little by little is taking a hold of me.
Two days ago I went to have dinner with my friend/high school college prep advisor and her family. Her husband asked me if I was taking any economics classes. I answered by saying that I currently was not taking any classes but that I would like to take one in the future as I would like to take an intro to Political science class. He replied by saying that the world of politics was greatly influenced (basically meaning ‘completely controlled by’) economics. … I did not dare to tell him I disliked economics very much. Today, I went to visit my high school. I talked with my favorite counselor and she asked me what I was studying. I proudly answered with a somewhat happy “international Studies” –hey, I couldn’t help it; that was the only class where I ever got an A in my entire College experience so far. So she started telling me that, since I am taking Chinese, I would easily get a job in China if I did Business, whereas I could not do anything with a History degree (my major). Her intentions were the best. She knows that I do not have a safety net like other people. After all, I do not have a family to rely on, like other people do, and basically I am on my own. She left me and my friend thinking about our majors and our possible jobs/incomes.
And it is not that I have not thought about my future. Believe me, I know what it feels to think of everything, thinking how much money you will need to do that and worrying how to make money (like I am sure many college students do). Ms. R. let me thinking the entire day.As much as I hate economics, our world is dominated by money.
It is all about money, from single things such as getting from one place to another (whereas in my small town you could just ask for a ride to any passing car) to more important thing like politics and jobs… this is stating the obvious, you already know this. And now, with two years marked by a financial crises, with finances changing for worse in my family (relatives), and no prospect for a job ahead of me, I cannot do anything else that wonder if I will ever need to look within me for that despicable kid, who by being completely selfish, could swim in the treacherous waters of capitalism. Will I ever lose myself (integrity) in order to gain money?
2 comments:
Estoy completamente de acuerdo. Lamentablemente el mundo esta dirigido por aquellas personas que tienen mas dinero y aunque a veces uno no quiera aceptarlo el dinero es necersario. Al igual que tu me encuantro dividida entre lo que quiero estudirar y lo que debo estudiar para poder sostener a mi familia en un futuro. Tambien mi han cuestionado sobre que pienso hacer en un futuro con cierto diploma, pero la verdad creo que no vale la pena pasar por una miseria toda mi vida haciendo lo que no me guasta hacer por dinero. Al fin y alcabo estoy segura que encontraremos un trabajo y que ganaremos mucho mas dinero de lo que alguien que viene de raices humildes como tu y yo se imaginaria poder ganar. Lo importante es ganar lo suficiente para poder vivir en paz y no hacerse millonarios como much agente desea. Aunque la politica y la vida en muchos aspectos sea dirigida por la riqueza monetaria sigo creyendo que para ser feliz debemos no perdernos en la avaricia que reina en los paises capitalistas. No debemos perdernos a nosotros mismos, a nuestra integridad, a nuestros verdaderas pasiones,a nuestra felicidad porque al fin en dinero va y vienel.
aww gracias por tu comment. y si.. =\ entiendo
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