(from my other blog; entry dated September 20, 2006)

The stage is supercharged with emotion as the female contestant is down
to her last two briefcases. One briefcase possibly holds P
2,000,000.00. The other…P 50,000.00. On the side, the contestant's
family urging her to buck the banker's sure offer of P 999,999.00 and
go for the chance of taking home P 2,000,000.00. This could be the
banker's highest offer to any contestant in the history of the game
show.

This was the scene in last night's edition of the popular
TV game show, "Kapamilya Deal or No Deal". My wife and I were hoping
that this girl would take the offer and go home with a million pesos
less one.

Utterly perplexed, the girl turns to her family and
asks them if they would not get angry at her if she lost the 999,999.00
pesos offered to her by the banker. The family members tell her it
would be okay and encourages her to decline the banker's offer.
Finally, in one mindless decision she exclaims, "NO DEAL!".

In my mind, I couldn't help but say, "You are one brave girl. Brave indeed but,.....I dare not say".

True
enough, when her briefcase is opened, the case holds only P50,000.00.
In an instant the girl's jaw drops and a frown immediately replaces the
eager grin which was present a few moments ago.

Yes, she lost the million bucks. Hear me again : she lost the million bucks! But then, she was going home with P 50,000.00.

Allow me to share my take on this scene in last night's "Deal or No Deal".

No
one...as in, "NO ONE!" who has ever earned a million pesos through
their own blood, sweat and determination (not to mention the countless
hours of overtime) would gamble this amount even if it meant being able
to earn another million. For those who can gamble this amount, I just
have to say, perhaps you can do it because of only two reasons.
1) You have loads of cash overflowing that you can just say goodbye to a million in a jiffy, or
2) You have not realized what amount of sweat and agony one has to go through to earn a million.

I
guess in last night's episode, the latter scenario would have been more
closer to reality. After all, if you were overflowing with cash, why
would you be a contestant in "Deal or No Deal"? You should be the
banker.

I'd have to say this Pam (I believe that was the
contestant's name): You were never in a position to take home 2 million
pesos last night. Really. I say this from my heart. Why? It's simply
because you do not realize the value of one million. Hence, you cannot
go home with two.

Some people slave it out in a company for a
lifetime just to go home with a retirement paycheck of P 600,000.00 and
here you are, losing a million in an instant. Ten years down the line
(I honestly hope it will be this short for you), you may be staring at
your passbook and you could see that you've finally racked up a seven
digit savings. Finally may one million ka na rin. It will never escape
your mind that after ten years of hard and intense work, you realize
that for a few minutes in September of 2006, this was already in your
pocket when you were on"Deal or No Deal".

Alas, there is no room
for regrets. You will just have to console yourself by looking on the
brighter side. Focus on the positive.

Hey, you never lost a million bucks. Convince yourself.......You won fifty thousand pesos!