It was a hot day at Crystal Beach in San Narciso, Zambales. The time was around 2:00 pm. There was hardly any people at the beach. There were two young men wake boarding several meters away, while my friends were having fun taking selfies, and frolicking in the sand as white foam from new waves swept ashore. I needed some respite from the sun's heat, so I sat at one of the nearby cottages built by the local fishermen.
I saw her approach from the distance and I knew she was going to sell me something. I just didn't know if it was local produce, like dried fish, or souvenirs. It became clear when she was able to take refuge from the sun's heat under the shed.
"Would you like to buy some key chains or some necklaces?" she asked. I looked at the items she was selling and asked how much each one was. The key-chains sold for 35 pesos a piece but she was willing to sell three for 100 pesos. The necklaces were 80 pesos a piece.
I asked her how long she had been selling these items at Crystal Beach. She started out more than thirty years ago. Her family was originally from Zamboanga in Mindanao, but her grandparents decided to take a risk in Luzon, and they ended up in Subic. That's where she still lives up to this day, but there are times when she travels to near-by towns to try to sell her wares since tourism at Subic beach has dwindled because the shores there are no longer as clean as they used to be. She even used to sell sea shells when she was starting out. But now, her items are key chains, necklaces, refrigerator magnets, and pouches - a reflection of the changing times.
She only has one child, a boy, who finished high school and had a family early. Now, she has six grandchildren - potentially serving as motivation for her to work despite nearing the age of retirement. She wakes up at around 5 in the morning and travels to her target selling spot and stays there until she is able to meet her daily quota. During the summer, when there are plenty of tourists, her daily sales can reach thousands of pesos. But during off-peak seasons, she tries to make sure she at least comes home with around 400 pesos. There are days when she doesn't come home with anything at all. That means she still loses money since she has to spend around 100 pesos for transportation to and from the beaches she goes to.
Her son also does what she does, selling the same items to tourists at a beach. One wonders sometimes, if we are to end up doing the same things our parents are doing, why then do we even need to study in school? Aren't we better off shadowing our parents until we become good at their craft?
Her husband is a fisherman who also tries his best to earn a living. Sometimes, there are good days when they catch plenty of fish. But there are also days where they end up catching nothing, and losing money on gasoline for the boats.
But despite their hardships in life, I saw an old woman who is relatively happy in life. She has a family who loves her, and she loves and strives for in return. And she gets to spend her days at the beach, something most people working at an office cubicle would probably trade for. And the fact that she has lasted in her business for more than three decades must mean that she has developed a love for her work. Perhaps she has mastered the simplicity to life.
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