"Mama and Papa say the same thing about you. They say they don't understand you", my brother tells me as we settle down in the vacant tables affronting the restaurants in eastwood city at closing hours.

I ponder for a millisecond on what was being implied then I simply reply, "They said that?"

The way I figured it, the comment probably meant they didn't understand why I wanted to start working. Or they probably didn't understand why I wasn't going home for summer(or at least I'm not planning to). Or they probably didn't undertsand why I'm the only son who didn't graduate on time and is still in college. Or they probably don't understand why they don't know so much about the things I do. Or they probably don't understand just what it is I exactly do in my new course. Or they don't understand why I'm not seeing anyone (naaah...well, maybe my dad does). Or they just don't understand, period. Yeah it must be that last one. And I'm pretty sure that's the condition of most parent-offspring relationships.

But eventually I go over each and every single probable point with my brother. So first, we talk about work. "It's not even about the money, not really", and the smoothness of how immediate the words came out of my mouth surprised me. Despite the fact that both my parents were/are bankers, and some of my own brothers following the same suit, I've never quite developed the mind for "business". I won't say money doesn't interest me, I just won't describe it as tempting. Tempting in the sense that I won't break my back too much for the finer things (material things) in life. I'm quite content with things and to my amazement, am far more adaptable to certain environments and situations than the rest of my kin. But of course, I have to leave room for the possibility that this will not always be so. I explain to my brother that it's really more of an issue of being able to exert a certain amount of control over the things that happen in my life. And in a way being able to hold a certain amount of responsibility. But control has a price, and so I say I plan to play by the rules of this world (the rule that the world runs on money) for the meantime. He comments that we will always have to run for money for the rest of our lives. I disagreed of course, but I won't bother with the rest of that conversation here.

Then we talk about my course, then we talk about where he's planning to work, and how staying in Cebu might be a bad idea, and we talk about personality flaws in the family, yadayadayada. We talk about a lot of stuff.

Finally, after an hour or two, we decide to head back home. Staying up too late would be a bad idea coz my brother has to catch an early flight home to Cebu. As we near the taxi queue, I kinda say "Maybe they're just disappointed. I know they expected a lot from me..." My brother is quick to respond, "Yes, I think so too. They always say you're their most talented son...blahblahblah."

He should've stopped at yes.

....

"I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it."- Author Unknown