THE GENERATION. Continued..
Perhaps, years ago, if one mentions Saudi, one would picture a mid 30’s – 40’s man with “maong” jacket, gold necklace and watch or maybe, a female nurse. Say Dubai. What will I picture out? A crowd (now both men and women) somewhere between 25-35yo but not with a jacket – instead, the following: iphone & blackberry (Y’11-‘12), ipod (Y’08-‘10), dslr (Y’10-’12), and of course laptops (Y’08-11).
For a crowd that age and a bit financially capable of such purchase, gold necklaces and other jewelry never make it to the top 5 "to have list" (I'm betting). So what does? I believe it's anything that has to do with media and technology and a bit of exploration may be. But, of course we would want to set aside that money to buy something big like a car or a house or a business for example.. but these are just too 'long term' for us. And, the idea of 'long term' alone is frightening! Too much "What if?"s.. (But come 3 years or be in the late 20's and your views will change x)
Furthermore, it's given that "man is a social being" - generally speaking. It is hard to deny that we, consciously and unconsciously, have always sought our friends' and families' approval and affirmation. Our confidence and sense of satisfaction usually stems from them.
THE ENVIRONMENT
Also, the need for such gadgets is further heightened by the "mindset" that we are distant - physically far from those people. Thus, most of us have this longing of home - seeking that 'sense of community and belongingness' which, of course, are easily bridged by those OFW-ish gadgets (not to mention how these things keep us occupied!); the remaining gap -momentarily filled by our occasional 'going outs'.
Most of us have already established friendships back home which we, somehow upon choosing to be here, have left behind. And, most of us want to share - be heard at the end of every difficult and tiring day. But, most of us, sadly, definitely cannot always impose on others (fellow OFWs) to listen to us as patiently and as openly as our family and old friends would - atleast that's what we'd like to think. They too, have had a loooong day!
....
So, like me, others would resort to just let it all out in the cyberworld! It feels good to actually know that somewhere out there, someone is willing to listen to what I have to say :) Or simply, it feels much better to express my feelings and thoughts rather than just keep them - with or without a receiver!
If not that, we OFWs would most likely have never watched so much movies and series in our lives than the time we are/were here! CSI, PBB, Koreanovelas, Dexter, American Idol, Glee, Gossip Girl, Game of Thrones etc. Maybe, we have never done as much malling as we have done here too! ..To keep us occupied, we indulge in many activities (some, not too many are privileged to experience at our home country) - fellowships, picnics and road trips, yacht sailing, hotel dinners, diving, going to the premium gyms, swimming etc.
But hey! It's not all peaches and cream!
Living away from home is somehow lonesome. Lonely, it surely is if one does not learn to adapt, compromise and learn to accept that 'this' is actually the life that we were looking forward to yesterday.
..not all peaches and cream.. Here, we get very little privacy. One room is shared with 3-6 others. Taking a bath is scheduled and there's no one who will do the laundry, pressing, folding, cooking and washing for us! If we overspend, there's no mom/dad or brother or sister who will readily back us up. If we refuse to wake up to our alarm, there's no mom who will persistently nudge us just so we rise! There's no family who prepares our food and ask us how our day went when we get home from work. There's no nagging, the kind that we miss because it makes us feel that we are actually 'present'.
To be continued...
.jpg)
