As Import Manager at Ceará Importers,* a successful and expanding young medium-sized company in Fortaleza, I thought that I had finally made it in Brazil. Gone were my days of struggle to raise the rent and my sons’ high school fees. We dressed better, frequented the cinema, and enjoyed holiday week-end outings. I also began looking for an apartment closer to my workplace and my sons’ school.
After relocating to his farm 52 miles away from the capital, a good friend offered to rent me his apartment in Bairro Varjota, an upscale neighborhood in Fortaleza. An evening after work, my sixteen-year-old son and I visited the apartment. Located on the eighth floor of a ten-story apartment building, it had a master bedroom with bathroom, two other bedrooms sharing another bathroom and self-contained quarters for a live-in maid. The view from the living room balcony took my breath away.
My son looked at me wide-eyed. “Mom, you’re dreaming. We can’t afford a place like this,” he told me.
“We can make it happen,” I said.
By cutting non-essential expenses, we were able to cover the doubly higher rent and condo fees. Change demanded individual sacrifices.
Four months and thirteen days after moving into our new apartment, the Brazil Central Bank announced a change in foreign exchange rates. The Brazil real, pegged one-to-one with the American dollar (R$1.00 = US$1.00) during the previous five years under the economic Plano Real (Real Plan), would undergo fluctuations. The measure aimed to defend Brazil’s foreign reserves that had suffered losses totaling over US$44 billion during the financial crises in Asia (1997) and Russia (1998).
The announcement that Wednesday in January 1999 caused havoc at Ceará Importers. The cost of our imports had increased overnight. Our products were no longer competitive with similar nationally produced goods. Sales plummeted with increased prices. The company began closing its retail stores, laying-off the employees. Tensions rose at the head office-warehouse-showroom complex where I worked.
I floundered as the company lost its ground and battled to find a new direction for survival. I crumbled as colleagues I had come to know and love said their goodbyes.
By mid-year, I worked only half-days. Paying my rent became a challenge. Sleepless nights assailed me. My hunt for a job opening began anew.
As shipments came to a halt, I became irrelevant. My final days came in February 2000. Despite a number of job interviews, I hadn’t yet secured a new job.
When we are on top, we think that it will last forever. I learned that in a globalized economy, there is no job security. We never know when destructive winds will blow our way and sweep our success from under our feet.
Thanks for a really insightful story of life in this insecure age of “Globalization”. We look forward to your next chapter. Thanks!!
Thanks for reading and sharing my post, Cyril. The next Brazilian chapter will be filled with heroism during a time of crisis.
Back In 1999, we knew not that we would face a global financial collapse.
History is often written by the “victors” not the victims or vanquished.
with ASIAPLC …..of great concerns to myself and others.
for the USD…….WHERE THIS WILL END is speculation.
Worlds replace first and second worlds.
others it can change our world.
Kamptan (Lakota?), thanks for reading and sharing your own concerns.
We are all “victims” in the transformation of our world into the global marketplace for transnational corporations.
Rosaliene – the effects of Globalization and all that goes with it, is still yet unclear. Whether this will become, if not yet, a dog eat dog world is still to be seen. I believe that countries , especially small ones need to look at self-sustaining as not just a word but a way of life. It is only time when it will be difficult for many countries to enjoy all of the goods and services that some in the developed world enjoy, with many thanks to less developed ones who make or buy their products, with limited salaries or finances. It may be the old “Victory garden” times again, but not due to war shortages but resources scarcities. The old Guyanese “make do” philosophy, may become popular again.. Just a thought on the future outlook on haves and have nots.
Augustus, thanks for reading and for sharing your thoughts.
Sadly, millions of unemployed people are learning to “make do” in order to survive. I’ve also learned from short documentary films available on YouTube that those left behind are making a living on the waste of the wealthy and more fortunate of urban communities.
Agustus thinking is correct in a way.
My thinking goes very deeply on the subject….
Third world becomes first world and visa versa.
An ecological and sociological dream come true.
Bob Marley may be turning in his grave!
An educated world is one world.
we will have to live with…for the benefit of mankind as a whole.
Lots of food for thought there, Kamptan.
My twisted sense of humour…in Guyanese …don’t mess me up woman!..
nah vamit pan me !
Hey have a happy day ..keep smiling !
The example about which you’ve written is a frightening example of how life can turn in an instant. I suspect that most people who have been born in the right place at the right time share the illusion that their relative prosperity and safety are a permanent condition. The unsettling impact of currency changes in Germany and Austria during their post-WWI hyper-inflation, as we know from the history books, found them spending their pay in the morning because by the end of the workday it would be worth less. The transitory nature of things applies to success and much more.
Thanks for sharing your insights, Dr. Stein.
What will it profit a man or nation to conquer the world only to succeed in destroying our home planet?