there's one or more in every family. those who are hard up in life. kamag-anaks (relatives) who may not have been as fortunate.

i have a cousin in such circumstances. a bit older than me, and in a longterm live-in relationship. they worked for this little handicrafts shop for a decade, barely receiving minimum wage.

i offered her a job as a personal assistant, my way of helping her out, giving her higher pay. work as my assistant is very seasonal and very light. i told her that she could also start painting again on her free time (which would be a lot). after a few months,i took her partner in as manager of the nano-enterprise. they were profuse with gratitude, feeling that they have a chance at a better life.

last month, my cousin quit. after just three months. she was offered another job, this time with supervisory potential. and she was feeling bored with all the free time (but she never got back to painting) and soon enough, her partner also resigned from the nano-enterprise. after a month. she felt that it didnt have potential to earn. the employees were too much for her.

i used to think that every person had the potential to rise from their humble beginnings if given the right environment and opportunity. and when i would look at them, i was thinking that they stayed for a decade in that handicraft shop because they felt they didnt have options.

i offered the opportunity for them to be liberated from the shop that seemed oppressive and abusive. now im realizing that there are more sides to that story. they lacked initiative, first and foremost, to truly be enterprising. they had a lot of ideas initially. at first. no more seconds. or follow throughs. they didnt even have the perseverance to try to manage and make things work. they stay in their comfort zones and wouldn't even want to think for themselves. they always needed to be told what to do. always.

my cousin was hired by a former classmate who owns a chinese fastfood chain. she will be given the chance to prove herself as supervisor. im sorry to be pessimistic but "good luck" is all i could say. if she manifests those traits mentioned above, i dont know how long she could stay, even if the owner is a best friend.

maybe ill be proven wrong.




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