Over breakfast the other day my mom and I had a conversation about our next-door neighbors. This family -- a man and his wife and two kids -- were the bane of our neighboorhood. They were loud and obnoxious. Especially now that their 17-year-old daughter was working and was able to buy them the things that they were deprived of. More food on the table. Brand new clothes. Cellphones, one for each of them. The man would sometimes call someone on his cellphone and talk very, very loudly. He made sure that everyone knew he had that special, special gadget.

The other day, the wife, the mother, was talking to a neighbor. She was telling the neighbor -- no, bragging -- how she was so proud of her daughter. Her daughter had the enviable job of working in a bar in Makati. Aba, just the other night she received 100,000 pesos from a British man, who took a fancy to her. Imagine that? They were rich! She was so very proud.

In horrified silence, the neighbor could only stare back at the woman.

Even the younger son, a boy of 15, was telling his friends how rich they were, because his big sister was now working.

I hardly see the girl these days. She works at night.

But she was so lucky. Her family was so proud of her.