Sorry pare, there are a couple of holes here (I'm from California):
I feel sorry for my Pareng Mike. When he was in the Philippines, he was the "boss". He was a successful Sales Rep in Coca Cola and his family is well to do. His wife worked in ABS-CBN Bacolod, although she was a nurse. The wife belonged to a poor family but is very smart that's why she landed a job in ABS-CBN.
If you are a successful sales rep for such a big firm (multinational) in the Philippines, you can certainly get a better job than a fast food worker here. He is not trying hard enough or his resume making skills suck. Have him contact me if you want, I used to create resumes for people part time. The filipino version of a resume or CV is not made the same as the accepted american ones.
Recently, he has applied for a gun license, but my wife told me not to give him a character reference, because our friends are afraid that he might use the gun for something else other than home protection.
You don't need a character reference here for a gun license. Unless he's applying for one in the philippines?
Pareng Mike's story is typical of nurses' husbands I know here in the US. They were soldiers, engineers, lawyers in the Philippines, but they became "nothing" here. Only those who either chose to become nurses like their wives were able to match the money-making power of their wives.
But others like Pareng Mike, who accepted their fate and do nothing about it, find themselves at the bottom of a world that has turned over. I'm happy though that Pareng Mike has decided to take a short course to have a higher paying job.
1> Make sure you are making more money than your wife
2> If this is not possible, make sure you impose your position as the head of the family, that even if she makes more money, you are still the head.
I guess I'd need more information. Sometimes the family of the nurse is petitioned along with them, but the green card (work permit) for the husband is delayed. Sometimes they have a problem with the language and jobs aren't as readily available to them because of that as well. There are many factors at play here, and one must be able to differentiate from the ones he can do something about to those he can't.
I wish him well on this course, I hope that he has done the nec research to make sure he's not being swayed by the sales talk of these trade schools. It happens a lot here. He ends up getting a huge charge for tuition, while he'll still struggle to find work.
Lastly, the problem here is not who makes more money. It is the relationship. Obviously, it's one not based on mutual respect. It could be that Mike also had a problem with the way he treated her and the way he allowed his family to treat her, to have sown such vengeful seeds in her heart and mind. It will be unfair to judge the background of this girl and where she's learned her morals or how her character was built by her parents, but the biggest lesson here is NOT in the archaic concepts of "who makes the money" or "brings home the bacon" or who the "breadwinner" is, tho that might count....a little.
It is whether Mike made the right choice in who he chose to spend the rest of his life with.
He should get out of that relationship btw, or at least seek some serious counseling (his wife can sure afford it, if she cares enough). Malaking problema yan, and he will be in a better emotional and financial position to care for his kid OUT of such an abusive relationship.
