Saan Patungo ang mga Kabataan.

Nanunuod ako ng TV nung isang araw at nabibigla ako sa mga naririnig ko: Gustong ibaba ang edad kung saan pwedeng litisin bilang kriminal ang isang bata.

Ano?

Alam ko na maraming pasaway dyan pero ganun ganun na lang ba ang solusyon?

Pagkatapos ay napanuod ko naman ang ibat ibang balita kung saan ang mga bata mula 10 taon hanggang 15 taon gulang na nagiging magnanakaw, holdaper, pusher, and worst of all, rapist-killer.

Sa ibang krimen, ginagamit lang daw ng mga sindikato ang mga bata kasi mababaw na parusa lang ang maipapataw sa kanila dahil sila ay mga bata. In some cases, hindi na sila kinukulong sa presinto...pinapauwi o pinapaalis na lang agad.

pero sa tingin ko, tamang gabay habang sa paglaki ang tamang daan para maituwid sila. At sa mga sindikato na tinarantado ang kinabukasan ng mga batang ito, kailangan sila ang hagilapin ng batas.

Kailangan tandaan na ang kabataan ay dumadaan sa sinasabing 'formative years' kung saan nahuhubog and kanilang pagkatao. Kapag mali ang nakikita nila mula sa mga matatanda na gumagabay sa kanila, at tinatanggap ito na tama, ang kanilang sense of right or wrong ay nagbabago.

At ang mga batang naging biktima ay kailangan padaanin sa isang mabisang rehabilitation program, hindi sagot ang pagkulong sa kanila kasama ang mga hardened criminals sa kulungan.

The P172 Date

In these trying times of recession, its still refreshing to, once in a while, pamper yourself without spending much.

I can't seem to remember when was the last time my wife and I went out on a date. Since our son is spending his weekend at his cousin's house, we took this opportunity to go out last Saturday. And since we don't have that much to splurge for ourselves, I hatched a plan while walking around Glorietta.

Thrift DatePlan no. 1: The Park Date.

By early in the evening, Brownies Unlimited in SM Makati starts to sell their day's wares at packaged discount prices. Since a chocolate brownie sells at P14 to P18 each, we got the 6 pack for P62. Combined with 2 large iced coffee, that makes P172 ($3.65).

Then we went to the park in front of Glorietta where we go often during our 'going out' phase.

With the warm evening breeze, we had our date in the park, under clear starry skies. Just talking, enjoying each other's company while partaking in chocolate brownies and iced coffee.

It was getting late so we opted for a salad dinner.

We thought it would be cheaper to buy the individual ingredients than the packaged one but as it turned out we were wrong. We were planning to take white wine along with our salad dinner but our usual brand (the most cost effecient one) was sold out. We ended up with 2 pre-packaged salads, additional dressing, 2 cups of jello, and apple flavored green tea. 

At the end of the day...

Total cost of our 'park date': P172 ($3.65)

Salad Dinner: P192 ($4.08)

The surprise I got when my wife adamantly declares the she wants to 'get some' tonight: priceless.

:-)