Meri xmas kuya

Tough work year is over and I am tired... really tired. So it was not without a great sense of relief that I finally managed to drag myself home from another out of town assignment. The last for the year.

We did alright. And I shared in the company's profit. So much so that I could afford to finally buy another laptop -- for the significant other so we don't have to share. And if you know me, you would know that I don't make such purchases unless I have enough buffer in savings. As for me, I got a new android phone. A purchase I partly now regret, if only because the price, as I feared, dove a few months after I bought mine. I would've saved maybe two thousand pesos if I waited another two months.

So yeah, it was an alright year. Better than the last one. And next year promises to be even better. But believe you me when I tell you this, I bleed for every single peso that I earn. So next year's promise of an even better year translates to even more blood-letting.

So there I was in the apartment, de-stressing from the year that was and already preparing myself for the year to come when someone knocks on my door.

"Meri xmas kuya."

It was this guy who hangs around the housing complex who does odd jobs for residents. Not me, I do my own "odd jobs".

"Tang in..." I caught myself mid-sentence, and just decided to slam the door.

Tell me, since when did "meri xmas" translate to "give me money"? I was not raised to be ungenerous. But come on! Saying "meri xmas" that way is almost blasphemous. It is supposed to be Jesus' birthday. Are you Jesus? No? Then F you.