Our dear readers would think that just because today is the culmination of the month-long Sandugo festivities , by force of circumstance, we are obligated to make an essay of the street dancing revelry? You better think again. The Sandugo celebration? Leave it to its own media bureau to drumbeat what remains of its pomp and pageantry that it used to be. To our guesstimate, the Sandugo of old has lost its luster and what it needs is a good shot in the arm in order to regain its lost glory. But still it’s more fun in Bohol, regardless of whether it’s Sandogo time or whatever time the province has to offer. With the pun intended on the fun, we are of course referring to the new brand campaign of the Department of Tourism to attract more visitors to the country with the line—It’s more fun in the Philippines. We are dedicating this tagline to all those living in the United States who are bragging that they have finally found the elusive American dream by way of finding work and in the process earn US dollars. To the uninitiated, it indeed sounds like in the US, “it’s all sugar and spice and everything nice”. It seems life is like a bed of roses in the land of the plenty, of milk and honey and of the brave and the free.

But what lies ahead of all these superlatives of life in the US?

We have this lamentable incident of a US citizen who, on the basis of her description of life in the US, is never of fun, much less, a model of comfort and luxury. We heard her complaining that she has no time to relax, even chill out from a backbreaking toil in both household duties and in the workplace. The main complaint is that after rushing to drive home from office work, she’s confronted with the gargantuan duties of fixing the household tasks like preparing for dinner, washing the dishes and if there’s enough time, wash the dirty clothes and linens and after drying up, fold them up in places where they rightfully belong. The casualty? She has no time to call love ones back home who are eager to know whether life out there is all there is to something to brag about. No time? Holy cow, why in God’s name have they no time to call back home? The ready answer: they are so tired and spent after multiple household chores and office work. So next time you hear, the harassed character is sound asleep and waiting for another day to confront the same daily ritual. For all intents and purposes, there’s no way to enjoy that kind of life. The worst part of it all is the possibility of being afflicted with stress-related ailments most likely diabetes and hypertension.

The question of this confused BGlante is why insist on that kind of living condition if one has several options to explore. For example, if indeed you do have the talent to make hay while the sun shines back home why allow yourself to work in a hostile environment in the US? The point here is that if the US employer has come to recognize your built-in talent, why not use it to make money in a friendly atmosphere like the Philippines. Unless one enjoys the discomfort of working in tight routines, we have no business intruding into their own brand of enjoyment. The option we are talking about is definitely up for grabs to those who know how to push the right button. The clincher here is why insist on living a life under stressful circumstances when a choice is available to live like a queen. On hindsight, if the reality stares in the face that what appears like an American dream is more of an American nightmare, why not choose to reconsider one priority like going home. After all, don’t you hear the DOT invitation that it’s more fun in the Philippines? And for all you know, it’s even more fun in Bohol!