a drink for two....

Once upon a time, in the not-so-distant past....two kids who were siblings, would enter a fastfood joint that was famous in their school once or twice a month. They would go there on a Friday afternoon on each occasion when there would be no classes the next day. No, it wasn't the gigantic food chain with a bee for a mascot in the Philippines but nevertheless, this place was pretty packed on Fridays. Most of the customers were kids from their school. The two would order one small-sized orange shake and sit on a table facing each other and would take turns sipping the whole drink until it lasted. Although they wanted to order the giant burger on the menu on the counter or the red-hot delicious spaghetti or the crispy-looking chicken or even a bigger orange shake or a mango shake for a change, they couldn't. Why? Because they could not afford it. They both had to save what little they could from their allowance in one week before they could buy that one orange shake hehehe....

This story is etched on my mind because i was one-half of that partnership hehehe....

It is sad! Hehe but it was the cards me and my sister were dealt with. The family was not too stable financially yet. The mother and dad were a young couple and they were just starting to establish their family...

So me and my sister worked our way around it. We did not spend too much, we never wasted money. We saved when we could and every Christmas we broke open our piggy bank which was not really a pig in our case LOL but just a used container for rubbing alcohol where we placed our coins inside until we could count them at the end of the year hehe...

I would never understand but it seemed to me that I was happy and never complained about a lot of things during that time. I guess when there isn't too much abundance in one aspect of one's life there tends to be an unrecognized appreciation of what is really important...I never could pinpoint what made me so at ease even with the tight financial situation but it must have been the companionship my sister offered and the simplicity of life too. We both made everything so easy for both of us.

When me thoughts go back to these particular events in my life, it makes me very appreciative of what I have today. Learning to cherish each and every little trinket I purchase has become innate in me. Giving a lot of thought as to whether I need that article has become second-nature. People might sometimes mistake me for being a female Ebenezer Scrooge but they would never understand that I give a lot of thought before I ever buy something or before I ever treat someone. When you've only just started being able to enjoy the money you earn, old habits die hard. But I will never discard those old habits because somehow in many circumstances they have turned out to have more positive than negative effects. I guess the short yet remarkable story I wrote above gives me direction in my business transactions and has even probably helped me make positive decisions.

God bless that tiny orange shake and my sister!!! :)