CELEBRATING LIFE
Tonight I walked to a friend�s house for a visit and there was a woman there who was talking about her concerns as far as her economic situation. She has a government job that pays her 25,000 dram ($45) a month. Her husband is out of work and has been for many years. They have a son who is 8 years old and her husband�s mother and father live with them. The husband�s mother and father get a pension totaling 15,000 dram ($27) a month.
I asked her what type of salary would she need to receive so they could have a semi-normal life, $100 a month? She said no, that would not even cover food (official government estimate for minimal food per person is 25,000 to 30,000 dram a month). She was not really able to give me a figure, but what she did say, stuck in my head. She said that there are 5 people in their family. If she could secure all the basic necessities and have enough to have a birthday party for all 5 of them and money left to purchase for a few friends a gift on their birthdays, then life would not be so bad. The reason this comment stuck in my head is that so many people find this birthday party issue to be important.
In the U.S. and for me personally, a birthday is not that big a deal and really just another day. I guess when I think of birthdays, I think of an excuse for little kids getting together, eat cake and play games together. Maybe this is my capitalist way of thinking.
Well here, a birthday party is a big deal and an important celebration of life. When you have a birthday party for your child here, it�s not so much the child�s friends that attend, but the parent�s friends, relatives and acquaintances from work.
I once went to the birthday party of a little girl who turned 5 years old. Her dad is the head of the tax office in Martuni and not only were all the head people from the tax office from the entire Karabagh tax system there, but the head prosecutor and his staff, regional minister and former chief of police (who is now once again the chief of police). This all for a 5 year old girl.
When I went home from that party, there was another birthday party going on at my neighbor�s house. I was invited over to join that party. When I sat down, I had no idea who it was for, but in attendance was the chief of police, former regional minister and almost every military base commander. It turns out that the birthday was for a 7 year old girl, whose father is the commander of one of the bases in Martuni.
I guess when I think of the most basic human function, it�s not to work to get rich, but it�s to find a mate, have children and secure a job that will provide a source of income so you can live and celebrate life.
It would be safe to say that Armenians here understand this concept, more than those people living in the Diaspora. Maybe this is why so many well educated people continue to live here with the lack of opportunities to get rich and in our Diasporan eyes, just get by.
(ara_manoogian@yahoo.com)
I asked her what type of salary would she need to receive so they could have a semi-normal life, $100 a month? She said no, that would not even cover food (official government estimate for minimal food per person is 25,000 to 30,000 dram a month). She was not really able to give me a figure, but what she did say, stuck in my head. She said that there are 5 people in their family. If she could secure all the basic necessities and have enough to have a birthday party for all 5 of them and money left to purchase for a few friends a gift on their birthdays, then life would not be so bad. The reason this comment stuck in my head is that so many people find this birthday party issue to be important.
In the U.S. and for me personally, a birthday is not that big a deal and really just another day. I guess when I think of birthdays, I think of an excuse for little kids getting together, eat cake and play games together. Maybe this is my capitalist way of thinking.
Well here, a birthday party is a big deal and an important celebration of life. When you have a birthday party for your child here, it�s not so much the child�s friends that attend, but the parent�s friends, relatives and acquaintances from work.
I once went to the birthday party of a little girl who turned 5 years old. Her dad is the head of the tax office in Martuni and not only were all the head people from the tax office from the entire Karabagh tax system there, but the head prosecutor and his staff, regional minister and former chief of police (who is now once again the chief of police). This all for a 5 year old girl.
When I went home from that party, there was another birthday party going on at my neighbor�s house. I was invited over to join that party. When I sat down, I had no idea who it was for, but in attendance was the chief of police, former regional minister and almost every military base commander. It turns out that the birthday was for a 7 year old girl, whose father is the commander of one of the bases in Martuni.
I guess when I think of the most basic human function, it�s not to work to get rich, but it�s to find a mate, have children and secure a job that will provide a source of income so you can live and celebrate life.
It would be safe to say that Armenians here understand this concept, more than those people living in the Diaspora. Maybe this is why so many well educated people continue to live here with the lack of opportunities to get rich and in our Diasporan eyes, just get by.
(ara_manoogian@yahoo.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment