The Shrewd Middle Class

The other day, I received an SMS that listed some generalisations about Pakistan's middle class. A few of them I have reproduced below:
>> "When the shampoo bottle seems to be over, I pour some water in it, shake it, and use it for another bath."
>> "A toothpaste isn't over for me until I've entirely flattened it out and started rolling it up from the back."
>> "Our home has fine bone china crockery which is used only when guests visit."
Such is the attitude of the conscientious Pakistani middle class that tries to wisely spend its resources.

The middle class consists of educated workers' families who rightly know how difficult it is to earn each rupee. As a consequence, they profoundly value resources, and try to spend their hard-earned money prudently. Some of them envision to spend according to a plan approximation for what they want in the future. Others live spontaneously but have the sapience to wisely utilize available resources.

In contrast, some people belonging to the lower or underprivileged class are surprisingly more spendthrift in nature. Due to lesser education and awareness, they are not cognizant of the reality that they should be shrewd in their spending and make the best use of already scarce resources. Hence, in comparison to the middle class sagacity, they are often found carelessly wasting invaluable possessions.

They would rather leave the water running unnecessarily. They would not care about neatly cleaning food remnants from cooking pans. They would casually peel and cut onions wasting away several useful layers. Gas burners in use would be set on full speed irrespective of need. They would get 2 yards of lace to adorn clothing where 1.5 yards would decently suffice. In a nutshell, they do not have the spend-it-wisely approach. Saving would be a far off stance indeed.

There is no doubt that the distressed poor of Pakistan often live hand to mouth. Yet, through such 'ostentatious' displays, they exhibit a sad sight. Life appreciates intelligent choices and decisions. If one gets into the habit of recklessly squandering things, then there is no end to it. We should be conscious about wisely using our resources and not wasting them. We should value things and respect the effort put in to acquire every little thing that matters.