Today, while talking shop with my good friend Jonathan (meaning photographpy po sa mga di nakaka-alam) we chanced upon the topic of recession and the economic downturn.

You see, he works at Honda and today they asked everyone to leave early (4 PM to be exact) because their building had no power. It was kinda strange he said. And then he saw the news, the big three bailout was all over the place and it hit him. Maybe Honda is starting to layoff too. Its not far fetched considering how the whole US auto industry is doing.

He said he got so worried he started thinking about plan B. He asked me what were our plans in case the US hit rock bottom? My answer?! We ride it out.

He said if shit hits  the fan they’ll just pack and go back to the Philippines; take care of their fish ponds and farm lands. I told him, buti pa kayo. To us, there is nothing to go back to. So our plan B is to ride it out.

The funny thing is that whatever we recession we are experiencing now is nowhere near the level of suffering we have endured back in the Philippines. Most folks living in America have never experienced skipping a meal for a day or worrying if they have enough money to pay for their fare just to go to work.

Like I always tell Maan, we are still blessed. We may not be affluent but we still manage to buy all our essential needs, pay our bills and still able to get something something for ourselves. A lot of folks around the world have barely anything to eat nor have proper shelter to live on. We should not worry too much about the recession and the economic downturn, because if we do we become less productive and become part of the problem.

People have to put things into perspective, we may lose our material possessions but its not the end of the world. We can always acquire them at a later time. The important thing is we do our best to keep this economy running. We live in a consumer society, if people don’t spend on goods and services  money will not circulate and everyone will be affected.  Shops will close and more people will lose their jobs and more people will put a strain on government resources.

So for once I agree with Maan, Shop till you drop people!!!