Comments on: Economic Downturn Affects Dominicans Abroad http://www.dominica-weekly.com/economic-downturn-affects-dominicans-abroad/ Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:44:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Dan http://www.dominica-weekly.com/economic-downturn-affects-dominicans-abroad/comment-page-1/#comment-13664 Dan Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:00:35 +0000 http://www.dominica-weekly.com/?p=3623#comment-13664 Thanks for agreeing Suki. My family always placed a high value on books, but now there's the Internet. There is a vast difference between "cheap" and "thrifty". A family story on the subject: My oldest uncle finally made good and owned three furniture stores. Family members would borrow from him for important things -- a car down-payment, a doctor bill, etc. He would always ask what the loan was for, explaining that as a brother he would not collect if a sibling could not pay; it was not a gift and repayment was expected, but would not be extracted. His youngest brother asked for a loan, and in response to the usual inquiry, replied that he wanted to buy a TV for his family. The older brother refused the loan, saying that a TV is a want not a need, and the family could read books, tell stories, have hobbies, take walks, play games or make music, etc. for entertainment. My family (we were not the one asking for that loan) did those things together. And when I had a family, we read to our child every day. That is a very important thing to do. It shows the value of education and how to get information (one must read off the Web too). Our daughter had a full adademic scholarship to college, graduated cum laude, completed her master's degree and is now a teacher. Read! Read! Read! is my advice. Thanks for agreeing Suki. My family always placed a high value on books, but now there’s the Internet.

There is a vast difference between “cheap” and “thrifty”. A family story on the subject: My oldest uncle finally made good and owned three furniture stores. Family members would borrow from him for important things — a car down-payment, a doctor bill, etc. He would always ask what the loan was for, explaining that as a brother he would not collect if a sibling could not pay; it was not a gift and repayment was expected, but would not be extracted. His youngest brother asked for a loan, and in response to the usual inquiry, replied that he wanted to buy a TV for his family. The older brother refused the loan, saying that a TV is a want not a need, and the family could read books, tell stories, have hobbies, take walks, play games or make music, etc. for entertainment.

My family (we were not the one asking for that loan) did those things together. And when I had a family, we read to our child every day. That is a very important thing to do. It shows the value of education and how to get information (one must read off the Web too). Our daughter had a full adademic scholarship to college, graduated cum laude, completed her master’s degree and is now a teacher.

Read! Read! Read! is my advice.

]]> By: Suki http://www.dominica-weekly.com/economic-downturn-affects-dominicans-abroad/comment-page-1/#comment-13663 Suki Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:24:59 +0000 http://www.dominica-weekly.com/?p=3623#comment-13663 It is true that our current economic times will affect everyone in some way but perhaps it is an opportunity to as Dan says, "to know the difference between what we need and what we want, and between what we could afford and what we could not." It is an opportunity to be more creative about how we entertain ourselves, to go for a walk and appreciate our surroundings to enjoy both preparing and eating a home cooked meal as a family. It is an opportunity to rediscover the library versus buying a host of books that will do no more than collect dust in our homes. It is an opportunity to rediscover the value in simply saving. On a personal note, in the past I was considered at best cheap and a little out of touch with my minimalist lifestyle, in the past couple of months I have been called a genius - go f :grin: igure. It is true that our current economic times will affect everyone in some way but perhaps it is an opportunity to as Dan says, “to know the difference between what we need and what we want, and between what we could afford and what we could not.” It is an opportunity to be more creative about how we entertain ourselves, to go for a walk and appreciate our surroundings to enjoy both preparing and eating a home cooked meal as a family. It is an opportunity to rediscover the library versus buying a host of books that will do no more than collect dust in our homes. It is an opportunity to rediscover the value in simply saving. On a personal note, in the past I was considered at best cheap and a little out of touch with my minimalist lifestyle, in the past couple of months I have been called a genius – go f :grin: igure.

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