MEDIUM RARE

There are workers and there are savers, just as there are spenders. Without spenders, how would the economy function?

We were at the mall last Sunday and I told my companions, “BBM should visit any of our malls one of these days and see how shoppers and consumers, the small ones, are keeping the retail industry, ergo the economy, alive and kicking.”

How was I to know that on that same day, June 1 — probably at that very hour — he would be on board an MRT shaking hands with fellow passengers? Where was the train bound for? Was BBM on his way to a mall? The caption under the picture did not say. (Also in the photo was Press Secretary Jay Ruiz.)

That front-page photo last Monday, June 2, reminded me of a “secret” trip made by a pope of recent memory who took a private trip outside the Vatican — only the world’s tiniest state — just to see what life was like outside of his papal apartments; it’s good to know what kind of world you’re supposed to be in charge of. (Some years ago a documentary shown on Netflix, I think it was, centered around a young girl who left her home in the shadows of St. Peter’s Basilica to carry out an errand and never came home. The message implied that she was just a statistic.)

As I was saying about spenders, my mother had one rule in the house when we were growing up. She would give us money to spend, no questions asked, as long as what we were buying was food or books, food and books. I imposed the same rule on my kids when they were growing up.

Spending is fun when you know you deserve a reward for work done well. A century ago, my allowance was ₱5 a day, for lunch and bus fare. Later, when I landed a job in UST’s monthly magazine, a salary of ₱10 was added to my treasure chest, eventually ₱100 when I was promoted to editor. Ridiculous? Then as now, I tell would-be journalists, journalism won’t make you rich. 

Still, what’s the fun of working without the joy of spending? As long as you don’t spend more than you earn.