Paskong Pinoy means the Filipino way of celebrating Christmas. I think we're one of the most excited bunch over Christmas (not sure if it has something to do with us being mostly Catholics in this country).
Usually, radio stations would already start playing Christmas songs as early as the first "ber" month. By October, malls would go on sale and many people will already be rushing to the mall to start "hoarding" Christmas give aways. By November, malls would start getting crowded. In December, going to the mall becomes a very inconvenient thing to do, as they are already very, very crowded, there would be very, very long queue at the counters and traffic at the malls is usually very,very bad.
Usually.
It already is December and malls had been going on sale since October. Yet, there are still very few people going shopping (compared to the past years). I went to do some Christmas shopping today, and was really surprised to see no lines at the counters. It felt weird, today being a Saturday, and the shops being on sale at that .
All the media, be it TV, radio, newspaper or internet, have been talking about global recession that it has practically became a buzzword. Yet, hearing or reading about it, is different than actually seeing it happen. Economists talk about the decline in purchasing power, yet this simple experience at the mall has helped me realized that indeed, recession will happen, if it hasnt happened yet.
And we see it even in the neighborhood. Where before, all the families put up Christmas lights, now, 50% of the families in our street did not , to save on electricity cost.
While it is good to note that people are finding ways to cope, and are actually learning the value of saving and conserving, the thought of recession is becoming "the Grinch", threatening to steal our Christmas.
But then again, there are other ways we celebrate Paskong Pinoy. Being together even for a very simple Noche Buena already spells Christmas for us. Sans the material things, what matters most for Filipinos is to be with the family during this season.
Usually, radio stations would already start playing Christmas songs as early as the first "ber" month. By October, malls would go on sale and many people will already be rushing to the mall to start "hoarding" Christmas give aways. By November, malls would start getting crowded. In December, going to the mall becomes a very inconvenient thing to do, as they are already very, very crowded, there would be very, very long queue at the counters and traffic at the malls is usually very,very bad.
Usually.
It already is December and malls had been going on sale since October. Yet, there are still very few people going shopping (compared to the past years). I went to do some Christmas shopping today, and was really surprised to see no lines at the counters. It felt weird, today being a Saturday, and the shops being on sale at that .
All the media, be it TV, radio, newspaper or internet, have been talking about global recession that it has practically became a buzzword. Yet, hearing or reading about it, is different than actually seeing it happen. Economists talk about the decline in purchasing power, yet this simple experience at the mall has helped me realized that indeed, recession will happen, if it hasnt happened yet.
And we see it even in the neighborhood. Where before, all the families put up Christmas lights, now, 50% of the families in our street did not , to save on electricity cost.
While it is good to note that people are finding ways to cope, and are actually learning the value of saving and conserving, the thought of recession is becoming "the Grinch", threatening to steal our Christmas.
But then again, there are other ways we celebrate Paskong Pinoy. Being together even for a very simple Noche Buena already spells Christmas for us. Sans the material things, what matters most for Filipinos is to be with the family during this season.
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