Freedom and Opportunities

In the Philippines, our 'Lola and Lolo' (Grandma and Grandpa) stay at home for most of the times. They rarely go out except to go have coffee with the next door Grandpa or to see the Grandkids on Christmas days.

Grandmas and Grandpa in most part of England however are quite different from how we were use to seeing our grandma and pas' back at home. Here in England, they drive, they go to the bookstore, they get together and sit on the little lady coffee shops, they go to the mall. Grandma and Grandpa walk together around the mall, looking at bookstores, buying things for their grandkids.

Whenever myself and my husband are driving in UK, every hour there will be an old lady driving next to us, of about 50 or 60, or Grandpa driving in the motorway. I come to England so frequently but I still surprised myself whenever I find an old driver next to us in the road. Each time we stop on the traffic lights I always catch myself saying "oh look see Grandma is driving".

In most of England, the Waitresses and Hotel attendants are not all the young men and ladies we are accustomed to like in the Philippines. Here in England, they come in different age groups. From 20 to over 50. The last hotel I was in, I have noticed them to be in their late 30's and 40's, working as hard, as devoted. They chat with you, call you 'lovey' and say 'you alright, take care of yourself now'. You have your breakfast in the little hotel and you feel you have your mum there fuzzing over you and it makes you feel at home. In the Philippines, the only ones who will get these jobs are the 18 to 20 something. There are obviously reasons behind these policies. But if you wonder why all our young people are grappling with the dilemma of having to send money to their families; their wife and kids; their mum and dad, sisters and brothers- wonder no more. Our poor young people have to send their parents some money because no one hires our parents in the Philippines. We go home to them and give them a bit of what we earned and when we see Lola, we give her some as well.

If your Gran and Gram are CEO of a Bank or if your Dad is a Director for a a big company, then you are truly blessed (mind you that is to be shared). But for most in the Philippines, we only get our oldies hired if they have been working all 40 years of their lives and how many percentage does this represent in our country. Most of our parents in the Philippines are poor farmers whose lands are

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