Me and my sibling grew up selling stuff. As my father do office works in SM, my mother has been a market vendor for as long as I could remember. I grew up smelling all kinds of smell in a public market. A place full of life from dawn to evening. I remember getting up around 4 in the morning, tagging along to my mom as we go to Paco Market in Manila to buy crates ("kaing-kaing", as my mom used to say) of bananas, sacks of sweet potatoes, sacks of sugar (all kinds).. and a lot of other stuff. We would get them from dealers, and sold them at our stall at Sta. Ana Public Market, by kilo or by piece.
There was no time to rest for my parents. As they tried to feed, and educate four children. And each one of us did our time to help out. We would help repacking sugars, pancit bihon, uncooked sago, cocoa, miswa.. and a lot more. We grew up, with the public market in our lives.
Our parents were born dirt poor, but because of their hard work and determination, they made it through. We're not rich but we lead comfortable lives. The family has gone through house fire, a number of robberies, but we still hang on. We were able to buy whatever we would want but, with limitations. We see to it that the thing we would be buying is "needed" and not just "wanted". They would always tell us to save for the future.
After selling bananas and other ingredients for the ginataan, my parents then ventured to retailing processed meat. We bravely called hotdog giants such as Purefoods, CDO (CDO was just starting to compete with Purefoods back then), and order some goods, firstly with cash upon delivery. Again, with determination and I guess, luck, my parents were successful. And as time goes, we put up another stall in Cavite (where we're staying now). We're still in retailing, and would continue to do so as long as we could.
The stall in Manila, is still operating but not doing that well now, since the market is competing with supermarkets (like savemore and puregold.) The one in Cavite is giving the bigger share of income for the family. Two years ago, My father and I put up a small office supply business. The business had been good but its not as profitable as my parents processed meat retailing.
Since my parents are retiring, I hope I would do justice to their diligence and perseverance.
Our parents were born dirt poor, but because of their hard work and determination, they made it through. We're not rich but we lead comfortable lives. The family has gone through house fire, a number of robberies, but we still hang on. We were able to buy whatever we would want but, with limitations. We see to it that the thing we would be buying is "needed" and not just "wanted". They would always tell us to save for the future.
After selling bananas and other ingredients for the ginataan, my parents then ventured to retailing processed meat. We bravely called hotdog giants such as Purefoods, CDO (CDO was just starting to compete with Purefoods back then), and order some goods, firstly with cash upon delivery. Again, with determination and I guess, luck, my parents were successful. And as time goes, we put up another stall in Cavite (where we're staying now). We're still in retailing, and would continue to do so as long as we could.
The stall in Manila, is still operating but not doing that well now, since the market is competing with supermarkets (like savemore and puregold.) The one in Cavite is giving the bigger share of income for the family. Two years ago, My father and I put up a small office supply business. The business had been good but its not as profitable as my parents processed meat retailing.
Since my parents are retiring, I hope I would do justice to their diligence and perseverance.
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