I just drove the BMW 760 Li.
Yup, it’s not the ordinary BMW you see on the streets, but that BMW model which belongs to the top luxury class. What distinguishes it from the rest is its powerful V12 engine that launches with just one press of the start/stop button. Boy, you should try its precise six-speed automatic transmission and experience how it effortlessly zooms away the moment you step on the gas pedal. Of course, because it is among the cars in the L Series, the BMW 760 Li’s price tag is also an “L” (as in, lumilipad) — $117,400.00, which is roughly P4,696,000.00 in Philippine Peso.
The good news is, anybody can get hold of the wheel and drive it away. That includes you, dear reader. The only condition is this: You must want to drive it. It’s all a matter of perspective and choice.
Let me explain what I mean.
I had this moneyed client known for her opulence. She uses nothing but original signature stuff for her bags, shoes, pieces of jewelry, etc. She snubs the great bargains at Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong, refusing to settle for the so-called “imitation.” I tell you, this lady sleeps on money. Literally.
And, because she has this penchant for the luxuries in life, she complements the sprawling garage in her mansion with the BMW L Series, no less.
Oh, how it felt good to be seen with her! Just imagine what people thought when they saw me rubbing elbows with a certified rich and famous. I also visualized how my client perceived me: a respected lawyer with panache. So, smugly, I patted my own back and said to myself, “Enjoy life, Bong. You are now a full-fledged abogado de campanilla.” This client wouldn’t get me as her lawyer if she didn’t hold me in high esteem, would she?
Boy, was I so presumptuous!
It happened that one day, we had a meeting over lunch in one fine dining restaurant. While we were in the thick of discussion, the guard approached my client and politely said, “Ma’am, may lalabas po na customer. Nakaharang po yung kotse ninyo.”
My client looked at the security guard from top to bottom, as if evaluating his driving skills. Then, she took the car keys from her bag, and stretched her arms to hand over the keys. Just then, out of the blue, she shifted her gaze on a barong-clad man by the name of Bong Roque, and barked her orders: “Attorney, pakilabas mo nga yung BMW ko.”
Boink!
So much for my illusion of being an abogado de campanilla.
I was tempted to walk out on my client right there and then, making sure she’d realize that I took offense with how she treated me. Why, I am not like the pathetic brief case-clutching lawyer portrayed in Filipino movies, who reads the Last Will and Testament of the deceased patriarch and gets screamed at by the heirs after realizing that they have been stricken off the list of those entitled to inheritance! In the same vein, I did not study 8 years of law just to be ordered by a client to drive her car. (Just a little digression: Can somebody please tell me why family drivers wear the same barong tagalog that lawyers wear?)
Just when I was about to bawl at my client in retaliation, I remembered what a relative told me one time when her new Mercedez Benz was slammed into by another car.
“Bong, what should I do. My new Benz was smashed by another car,” she said on the other line of the telephone.
Incredibly, she sounded upbeat and happy despite the accident.
“Did I hear you right? Your new Benz was rammed into by another vehicle?” I asked in disbelief.
“Yes,” she replied, still sounding in high spirits.
“Then why do you sound so happy?”
Her answer was something I will never forget. She said: “Attorney, my Benz’s rear fender is crushed. That’s a fact. I can choose to be angry or happy. If I choose to be angry, my blood pressure will surely shoot up. But, if I choose to be happy, I delay the aging process. In either instance, the fact does not change that my Benz is damaged. So I just make a choice to be happy.”
Bull’s-eye!
Flashing the widest smile in my arsenal of happy faces, I got the keys from my client and went to the parking lot. Once I saw the 4-million Peso baby, I got in right away, sat on its luxurious, body-hugging seats, pressed the state-of-the-art start button, and drove away in style. Never mind if it was only for a few meters in and out of the parking lot.
Which brings me to my point. (Finally!)
I am not sure if, in my lifetime, I will be able to buy a car which is worth more than my insurance policies combined. But, at least, I can proudly say that I have had the singular experience of driving a BMW 760 Li. All because I altered my mindset and made a choice to drive the car.
Really, it’s all a matter of perspective and choice.
Quote for the week:
“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” – Norman Vincent Peale
Yup, it’s not the ordinary BMW you see on the streets, but that BMW model which belongs to the top luxury class. What distinguishes it from the rest is its powerful V12 engine that launches with just one press of the start/stop button. Boy, you should try its precise six-speed automatic transmission and experience how it effortlessly zooms away the moment you step on the gas pedal. Of course, because it is among the cars in the L Series, the BMW 760 Li’s price tag is also an “L” (as in, lumilipad) — $117,400.00, which is roughly P4,696,000.00 in Philippine Peso.
The good news is, anybody can get hold of the wheel and drive it away. That includes you, dear reader. The only condition is this: You must want to drive it. It’s all a matter of perspective and choice.
Let me explain what I mean.
I had this moneyed client known for her opulence. She uses nothing but original signature stuff for her bags, shoes, pieces of jewelry, etc. She snubs the great bargains at Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong, refusing to settle for the so-called “imitation.” I tell you, this lady sleeps on money. Literally.
And, because she has this penchant for the luxuries in life, she complements the sprawling garage in her mansion with the BMW L Series, no less.
Oh, how it felt good to be seen with her! Just imagine what people thought when they saw me rubbing elbows with a certified rich and famous. I also visualized how my client perceived me: a respected lawyer with panache. So, smugly, I patted my own back and said to myself, “Enjoy life, Bong. You are now a full-fledged abogado de campanilla.” This client wouldn’t get me as her lawyer if she didn’t hold me in high esteem, would she?
Boy, was I so presumptuous!
It happened that one day, we had a meeting over lunch in one fine dining restaurant. While we were in the thick of discussion, the guard approached my client and politely said, “Ma’am, may lalabas po na customer. Nakaharang po yung kotse ninyo.”
My client looked at the security guard from top to bottom, as if evaluating his driving skills. Then, she took the car keys from her bag, and stretched her arms to hand over the keys. Just then, out of the blue, she shifted her gaze on a barong-clad man by the name of Bong Roque, and barked her orders: “Attorney, pakilabas mo nga yung BMW ko.”
Boink!
So much for my illusion of being an abogado de campanilla.
I was tempted to walk out on my client right there and then, making sure she’d realize that I took offense with how she treated me. Why, I am not like the pathetic brief case-clutching lawyer portrayed in Filipino movies, who reads the Last Will and Testament of the deceased patriarch and gets screamed at by the heirs after realizing that they have been stricken off the list of those entitled to inheritance! In the same vein, I did not study 8 years of law just to be ordered by a client to drive her car. (Just a little digression: Can somebody please tell me why family drivers wear the same barong tagalog that lawyers wear?)
Just when I was about to bawl at my client in retaliation, I remembered what a relative told me one time when her new Mercedez Benz was slammed into by another car.
“Bong, what should I do. My new Benz was smashed by another car,” she said on the other line of the telephone.
Incredibly, she sounded upbeat and happy despite the accident.
“Did I hear you right? Your new Benz was rammed into by another vehicle?” I asked in disbelief.
“Yes,” she replied, still sounding in high spirits.
“Then why do you sound so happy?”
Her answer was something I will never forget. She said: “Attorney, my Benz’s rear fender is crushed. That’s a fact. I can choose to be angry or happy. If I choose to be angry, my blood pressure will surely shoot up. But, if I choose to be happy, I delay the aging process. In either instance, the fact does not change that my Benz is damaged. So I just make a choice to be happy.”
Bull’s-eye!
Flashing the widest smile in my arsenal of happy faces, I got the keys from my client and went to the parking lot. Once I saw the 4-million Peso baby, I got in right away, sat on its luxurious, body-hugging seats, pressed the state-of-the-art start button, and drove away in style. Never mind if it was only for a few meters in and out of the parking lot.
Which brings me to my point. (Finally!)
I am not sure if, in my lifetime, I will be able to buy a car which is worth more than my insurance policies combined. But, at least, I can proudly say that I have had the singular experience of driving a BMW 760 Li. All because I altered my mindset and made a choice to drive the car.
Really, it’s all a matter of perspective and choice.
Quote for the week:
“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” – Norman Vincent Peale
