Well, it's the day after the Noche Buena and I'm wondering if some people are still hoping for some Christmas magic. The illustration above has a person who says, "You can do it. Please reach the goal." and "Just a bit more." The end goal says "New Year". People are complaining about inflation (even calling it the "highest in the world" as if we're in Venezuela) because they probably feel the need for lavish celebrations (read here). That's what I find on Facebook where people complained about the rising prices of whipped cream and lechon or roasted pig (to name a few). However, some people are still choosing to overspend even while they whine about inflation on social media.
Noche Buena celebrations could be very lavish. As I love to mention, my former neighbors downtown tend to celebrate lavishly. It's not enough to get high-fat foods for the feast. Some even try to hire a band to play for them. Some party and get drunk even past 12 midnight. Though, one must remember that the Noche Buena isn't the only time to waste money. What do you expect from people who spend the money the moment they receive it (read here)? Talk about living paycheck to paycheck and splurging on the money. The wasteful habits persist from January to November so when December comes--they'll hardly have money. Maybe, they decided to get the Christmas bonus and 13th-month pay and decided to well, splurge the bonus. I guess it's already a common tradition to get the money and waste it only to realize you have no money.
It doesn't help for people who have the mentality of "Bitter? Just add sugar!" (read here). My childhood nanny tends to fire that statement which irritates me to no end. I hear that statement all too much and it makes me angry. I only ended up shouting, "You people do this and that then you wonder why the nation doesn't improve?" They have the mentality that if it's bitter the best way to deal with it is to add some figurative sugar. I've even noticed how some people add ridiculous amounts of sugar to almost anything. You can tell them the full benefits of drinking tea or coffee without sugar then they'll just say, "Bitter? Just add sugar!" I noticed how some people try to forget about their problems (such as debts piling up higher than Smokey Mountain) by celebrating instead of paying off their debts. Talk about trying to solve one's debt with more debt.
The Noche Buena becomes as excessively sweet as possible. They already had ridiculous amounts of figurative sugar when they wasted their Christmas bonuses and 13th-month payments. Maybe, as soon as they got their year-end extra money, they decided to do stuff like going gambling instead of investing (read here). They would probably choose to settle for trying to win big with Axie Infinity instead of paying AXA financial programs (read here). They set up that expensive Noche Buena that they know they can't afford. What's important to them is not paying their debts but having a good time. I guess the mentality of "Bitter? Just add sugar!" is another phrase for escapism. How can having a sweet-loaded Noche Buena even solve their problems if they have debts higher than Smokey Mountain? Escapism solves nothing whether you like it or not.
I could just imagine when the bank opens for the remaining banking days this year--wastrels will discover they're in trouble. They may have mountains of loans and credit card bills to pay. However, they might just say, "Am I bitter to you? Please add some sugar!" I could imagine the faces that could be when they see that the bank book hardly has any balance for the new year. The "solution" may end up borrowing money from someone else. This would just end up adding financial burden to financial burden. What do you expect from a person who lives with the mentality of, "Bitter? Just add sugar!" They'll probably just keep having a good time then maybe blame better who are better off for the problem they caused themselves.
I feel Decembers are the worst time of the year. However, January seems to be rather sweetly vindicating (read here). By January, I might expect the song "Dayang Daya" (Cheating Cheating) by the late Max Surban to play in full-blast (read here). I could think of the five-six lenders riding their motorcycles looking for people who owe them money, Maybe, I could finally fire back at them and say, "Well, how's adding sugar to the bitter solved your problem?"