last weekend i was going through my denims so i can have them tapered into ’skinny jeans’. i don’t wear jeans in the office anyway, so i thought i’d save by recycling my old pairs, at least i know the fit’s tested. the bigger concern is that, should the style deem unfit for my body type, or rather my body’s unfit for them, it wouldn’t be such a waste of money.
anyway, i went to a tailor yesterday to find out how much tapering would cost, the lady oh-so-casually said, “it’ll be $28″. as she said that i thought, mother-effin-god, eh trenta pesos lang yan sa manila! goodness. sometimes i still can’t get over how much they charge for labor here. like with the mani-pedi treatments, i only get them when there’s an occasion. other than that when the fall season kicks in, my toes will not see the light of the day until spring’s around the corner. once i mentioned to my sister the cost of those treatments here, and she replied, ‘kaya pala kung magpamanicure ka dito, halos every other day.’ so now that it’s getting a little nippy this side of the world, hello pasty, cuticley nails.
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haircut is another issue. a few years ago, a college friend gave me one of those free hairstyling flyers randomly given on the streets. we went to this salon thinking we’d get freebies, not knowing that people who work there are vultures! vultures i tell you! they convinced us that we needed highlights, hair conditioners, etc. taking advantage of our umm, inner self-absorption. after they finally finished off with us, what’s left of my what-could’ve-been-nice-dinner allowance was $7, barely enough to get myself a whitecastle cheeseburger.
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one time, J told me about a new lady working as a machine operator at their site. she basically gets on those caterpillar thingamajigs, turns the wheel a bit to the left and right, flicks it on and off, and then she’s done. oh, and she’s getting paid $50 per hour. craptastic. something tells me i’m in the wrong profession.
Posted in hits and misses
