SOMETHING IS BREWING at the controversial Brian Gorrell blog. No, Brian is not getting his money back yet. And it’s not that the Gucci Gang is about to break their deafening silence on the hullabaloo.

Brian’s supporters have started to donate to help him recover the $70,000 that he lost so he can move on with his life, a move that will test the power of blogs in motivating people to act. Besides, it will only take 70,000 people each contributing a dollar (or P41 each) to raise that amount. And Brian’s blog, according to his site meter, had registered about 2 million visits already. If each of these visits translates to a dollar, Brian can even get more than what he lost. And he has so far received $1,634 in donations as of 12 noon of April 3.

What comes next after he recovers his life’s savings – whether to stop his tirades against the Gucci Gang or to continue until the real culprit pays him – is all up to Brian.

The media has been a powerful tool in pushing for action – action that’s inspired by compassion. We have all heard of conjoined twins having been operated on and were successfully separated after their sad plights were featured in newspapers, with individual and institutional readers sending their contributions to help defray hospital expenses. Some poor kids with unexplained illnesses have received treatment because of a public service TV program. So goes with cancer patients, senior citizens with cataract, grade schoolers with cleft lips and palates, etcetera, etcetera, and etcetera. The list is never-ending.

Journalism 101 teaches us that emotion is a foremost element of news. That’s why media often develops stories from people’s grief and defects, and their stories’ impact is measured by their audience’s response every time they appeal for sympathy. And from these responses, more stories are developed. There were even times when the media do not only report but, in cases of natural disasters like typhoons and floods, conduct their own relief operation to raise funds and gather food stuffs for calamity victims.

A scan of the various comments on the now famous blog showed that the appeal for contribution for Brian was first called by reader design engineer Sasha Montemayor. She wrote on April 3, “We have more than 70,000 readers out there. Why don’t we just chip a dollar each to help Brian out? I am calling on all readers regarding this matter so Brian can rest and do other things that would help him recover.” Other readers agreed. And donations have started to pour in.

Brian had earlier installed a donation button on his blog where people can contribute through PayPal, a system that allows payments and money transfers through the Internet. “I am not ashamed of my PayPal donation button,” he wrote in his blog, expressing pessimism on getting his money back.

This brings to mind the movie “It Could Happen to You” that starred Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda. In that movie, policeman Charlie Lang (Cage) gave half of the $4 million that he won in a lottery to Yvonne Biasi (Fonda) to fulfill a promise, as it was the latter who picked the other three winning numbers for a ticket that he had bought. But Charlie’s greedy wife Muriel wanted all the money for herself, filed a court case against the two (who had fallen in love with each other) and left them both penniless. Despite their sudden misfortune, the two had shown kindness to a newspaper reporter disguised as a homeless, who eventually wrote about their generosity. As a result, readers started to send money until the two were able to financially stand on their feet again.

That movie, which was based on the real-life story of New York policeman Robert Cunningham and waitress Phyllis Penzo, taught us not just the values of generosity and kindness but also how cruel greed and materialism can become. While generosity, kindness and respect can build relationships and spur fruitful interaction, greed and materialism can be equally destructive forces, takings their toll among the innocent.

Charlie Lang showed us how words of honor should be kept. “A promise is a promise,” he said. Only people with big hearts can do that. Besides, $2 million is more than enough for Charlie and his wife. Yvonne, using her share of the jackpot, bought the diner she was working in and set up a table with Charlie’s name at which people who cannot afford food will eat for free. Generosity, indeed, breeds generosity.

Muriel, on the other hand, divorced Charlie and succeeded in getting not just all the money that he won but also Yvonne’s share. As Mahatma Gandhi puts it, “there is sufficiency in the world for one’s need but never for one’s greed.” But karma hit her. She got conned and lost all the money. It’s poetic justice. And not for anything else, the movie’s title may have been a warning to the greedy and the materialistic: It could happen to you!

Perhaps, it was also Brian’s big heart that prompted him to entrust his life’s savings to a man he fell in love with. But greed and materialism were such cruel phenomena. They are distractions from true happiness, according to Doug Horton. They prevent men from living freely and nobly, observed Bertrand Russell. They ruin more souls than extravagance, wrote Charles Colton. Brian lost his money.

And so, Jun Lozada’s mission from Romulo Neri was to moderate the greed of the GG — Malacañang’s Greedy Group, that is, not the Gucci Gang! (What a coincidence!)

But how can greed be moderated?

If greed and materialism are forces out to destroy generosity and kindness, the antidotes to greed and materialism are also generosity and kindness. They will not totally eliminate greed and materialism but will somehow balance their evil impacts. They will become moderating energies. And these does not really require ceremonious charity work. “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one,” quipped Mother Teresa. And of her order’s mission of compassion, she said: “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”

Like a drop in the ocean, a dollar is just a dollar. And $70,000 would be less because of that missing dollar.

17 Responses to “It could happen to you”

• 1
  Hawaii Pinay
  April 3rd, 2008 15:55

  Mr. Lujan who are you? Where do you write? I need to read more of your writings. You’re such a genius! More power!
• 2
  Jetil
  April 3rd, 2008 16:28

  Hi nereo, good to catch you here. Best regards from an old good friend:)
• 3
  arthas lordaeron
  April 3rd, 2008 17:17

  Good article! Iloilo views has good writers, unlike that newspaper carrying the country’s name.

  MORE POWER TO YOU NEREO AND THE REST OF YOUR GROUP
• 4
  mackoy
  April 3rd, 2008 17:30

  Mr. Lujan,

  This is such an excellent article.

  More power!
• 5
  norman
  April 3rd, 2008 18:14

  hello mr. lujan,

  i just want to let you know that this is a very good reading material. so far, i have read three of your articles and all three are very well written and very well researched. i would also like to thank brians blog, if not for his blog, i wouldnt have encountered you here in this world wide web. am really looking forward to read more of your articles. more power!!
• 6
  coffee
  April 3rd, 2008 20:58

  again, excellent writing!
  greetings from NYC!
• 7
  Vince Baguio
  April 4th, 2008 05:35

  beautiful,
  makes you think…
  if the acquisition of wealth…
  is all worth…
  the time, blood…
  and tears.
• 8
  Gina
  April 4th, 2008 11:29

  Well thought-out, and expressed clearly and eloquently. Thanks!
• 9
  nester
  April 6th, 2008 04:24

  Hi Mr. Lujan, I read all your articles in this site and they are all excellent. Please write more. I look forward at reading more of your write ups. They are inspiring. More power!
• 10
  PIC Microcontroller
  April 6th, 2008 09:57

  kahit papaano may duda din ako sa pinagsusulat ni brian. gaano naman kaya yan katotoo?
• 11
  MARIE
  April 7th, 2008 14:05

  you write so very well… i am beginning to fall in love with you cheers, and more power!!!

  ———————
  NCL’s reply: Hi Marie, don’t worry, I’ll catch you hehehe
• 12
  Vicky V
  April 8th, 2008 22:16

  Hi.

  I am a Lit graduate who recently left my job in the business world to be able to concentrate on creative writing, before I die, hehehe —

  After reading your three articles, lalo ako na-insecure. Waaahhh, bakit ba ang gleng gleng mo sumulat ?

  You`re great, I`m very proud of u, kasimanwa

  —————-
  NCL’s reply: Hi Vicky, I’d be glad to give you some writing tips. Just leave your contact details in this site. Thanks!
• 13
  Vicky V
  April 9th, 2008 08:46

  Yessssssssss!

  I`ll look forward to the writing tips and …. errrrr, while you`re at it, wanna send me your picture too?? (ooooopsss, walang kokontra ha? hehe)
• 14
  Miles
  April 9th, 2008 10:28

  hi nereo,

  i’m thankful to vicky for paving the way to meeting you virtually. indeed you write very well… grabeh talaga, as in!

  tinalo mo lahat ng bloggers! ooppssss walang batohan dyan! hehe!

  more power to you nereo!
• 15
  robbie
  April 9th, 2008 16:08

  What if…

  …this whole blog is a scam (based loosely on truth) to get sympathy from all the bleeding hearts in internetland and susequently, their money in forms of donations?

  Just a thought.
• 16
  Rem
  April 13th, 2008 10:52

  Me too, me too!! Starting to fall in love with you and your work..hahah! Always anticipating for your next work Love reading them
• 17
  jerome
  May 20th, 2008 00:42

  Glad to found this blog..I was reading some posts on a forum about a book “An Anarchy of Families by McCoy” and tried to googled it. One link directed me to this site..

  Glad to have found this..Now I will become a regular..

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