The Filipino in the Workplace

The Filipino in the Workplace

I just started working at a day job. That means I wake up at 5:00 AM and I leave the office at 5:00 PM. My waking hours are Philippine hours. That also means I'm exposed to Philippine mediocrity as well.

Case in point:

10 months ago I started to worked for a U.S. company and the atmosphere back then was very strict and leniency was never a part of my supervisors' vocabulary. Each and every second was timed. Everybody knew where you were and what you were doing at any specific time of the day. Or "night", I should say.

Everything that you did was metered; everything was clockwork. And Hell would freeze over before you could even dare to disrupt the machine that they called a Schedule. Everything was done if and only if you had permission from your supervisor. Anything less than that would warrant a verbal warning or worse, a memo.

Just think about it... At a call center, you had to ask permission before you could piss or eat. It felt more like a prison than an office. Except with this type of prison, the walls are made of plastic and they seem taller than they normally are.

But I am not about to fall into a diatribe. Instead I am here to praise the people who work in a call center. I have realized that it is through hard work that you get to have a sense of dignity and importance as a person. It is through sheer force of will that you learn how to muster enough strength to come to the office everyday while suffering a migraine and high blood pressure. I now realize that what I did back then wasn't torture at all but it was work as how it should be defined, explained and practiced in real life. Back then I never understood the importance of a day's work because all I did was focus on the task at hand: satisfy the customers and make the company look good. The latter part might be too shallow for some people but looking back, I believe it should be taught to each and every Filipino employee. Because most of the time, we Filipinos are guilty of not just slacking off but outright apathy for work itself.

So now I can't really blame government for the troubles our country is facing. I may have given up that right because at my current job, it seems that people aren't giving their best. It seems that the urgency that I myself despised in my previous job is nowhere to be found here. I know it's unfair to compare the two because after all, call centers get the best people to manage the best hardware and software whereas with Filipino companies, we're just barely making ends meet by working with operating systems that are slowly being eclipsed by more streamlined ones. It is a striking contrast; nevertheless, it is true.

I don't mean to compare anything but I just know that we can all become better if we just get our act together and decide that we should be working our asses off because we're the same people who troubleshoot other people's problems thousands of miles away; we're the same people who handle the thousand dollar accounts of respected clients in 50 states; we're the same individuals who take the brunt of a customers bad attitude--and we never even flinch while we talk to them.

We are so much better when we do what we're supposed to do. But right now, we're not. I'm just wondering...is it because we're ashamed to be doing work for our fellowmen or is it because we're ashamed to be branded as "Filpinos"?

Change can happen in a man even before he is sentenced to a prison. In the same light, we can also become more than who we are now. Even if it doesn't mean having to speak a foreign language 24/7.

Recollection

Recollection

I chatted with an old friend today. I couldn't help but feel relieved to know that the more things change, the more they stay the same. She was an old college friend who now lives a life that is as different as mine. We've gone through so many changes and looking back on our conversation, I couldn't disregard the genuine friendship that we still share, regardless of how little we know of each other right now. It's such a good feeling--coming back to old friends, catching up on lost time and staying connected. There's an irony to all of it, actually.

It seems that the more people have access to something, the more they are deprived from it. Just look at our traffic scheme. (Heck, even the word scheme is ironically used!) The more Filipinos had access to their very own cars, eventually, because of the worsening traffic, the Powers That Be implemented the rule that cars with a specific number on their plate could not be used on certain days.

Just as it is with cars, so is it with how people communicate today. We literally do not have any excuse not to catch up on old friends but it seems that we lose touch of them despite the advancement in technology. We could easily reach them through email or text messaging but still their name lies dormant in our online and mobile address book. And sometimes I cannot help but wonder why this is the case nowadays.

People forget about more people today than they did before. Or maybe it's just me?

Thank You For The Music

Thank You For The Music

Sometimes I think I complain too much. I sometimes fool myself into thinking that there is nothing else in this world except disappointment and despair. But of course, I know better. I guess sometimes I, too, forget that there are wonderful things in this world that we need to focus on, that we need to revere and enjoy and be thankful for. And today, I want to pay tribute to a quiet and constant comfort in my life. Today I pay tribute to music.

It's just so comforting to know that music will always be there to see you through the darkest of days. I've always believed that there will always be one song we can relate to when we hear it. Sometimes it even seems that we're the one who wrote the same lyrics we listening to. And sometimes it seems that when we hear this one song, we feel as if it was created just for us and for no one else. It's really a miracle in the making when we hear that one song that defines who we are and what we believe in. You simply cannot comprehend that there's this one song whose words and emotions seemed to flow from our very soul even when we've just listened to it for the very first time.

I cannot be grateful enough for this gift. And in closing, I would like to leave you, my faithful "blog-readers", the chorus to one of my dearest songs; the song that I sleep to...the song that I consider my lullaby:


In the arms of an angel
Fly away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room
And the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage
Of your silent reverie
You're in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort here


Tonight, I wish each and every one of you the most peaceful of slumbers, the grandest of dreams and the fading of your fears.

I'm Sorry I Can't Be Perfect

"I'm Sorry I Can't Be Perfect..."

PERFECT
by Simple Plan

Hey dad look at me
Think back and talk to me
Did I grow up according to plan
And do you think I'm wasting my time
Doing things I wanna do
But it hurts when you disapprove all along

And now I try hard to make it
I just want to make you proud
I'm never gonna be good enough for you
Can't pretend that I'm alright
And you can't change me

Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late
And we can't go back
I'm sorry I can't be perfect

I try not to think
About the pain I feel inside
Did you know you used to be my hero
All the days you spent with me
Now seem so far away
And it feels like you don't care anymore

And now I try hard to make it
I just want to make you proud
I'm never gonna be good enough for you
I can't stand another fight
And nothing's alright

Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late
And we can't go back
I'm sorry I can't be perfect

Nothing's gonna change the things that you said
Nothing's gonna make this right again
Please don't turn your back
I can't believe it's hard just to talk to you
But you don't understand

Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late
And we can't go back
I'm sorry I can't be perfect

Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late
And we can't go back
I'm sorry I can't be perfect

I take comfort in the knowledge that this, too, shall pass. Thank you to all of the people who support me and give me strength.

24 Years Later

24 Years Later

Yesterday was a different birthday for me.

When I was a teenager of 15 years, I never really thought that 9 years later I'd end up spending my special day with only two of the most special people in my life. To those two, you know who you are. And I thank you for washing away the tears that shouldn't have come and for giving me strength in that day of mixed feelings.

I should have had more than two guests but the hand of God moved and all I could do was watch. You realize that you really do not have any control over anything.

Even over a simple invitation and get-together with your closest and dearest.

A lot of things happened that day.

Some people forgot to greet me while some surprised me.

I guess the saddest part of my 24th birthday isn't the fact that I only had 2 people present out of the 6 invited guests. I am secure with the fact that those four people who couldn't come wish me well. The saddest part was probably the fact that my dad never greeted me Happy Birthday.

Not even a hug or a pat on the shoulder saying: "Ilang taon ka na?"

Absolutely no recognition.

Of course I still cried. But a lot of things made up for it.

1. Anj's chocolate cake - hands down the best chocolate cake I've tasted. EVER!
2. Jom and KV's video surprise for me. - I can't believe I've been had! :)
3. The various text messages during the day.
4. Mommy being the one to greet me first in my family.
5. My sisters and brother greeting me after getting inside the car.

It wasn't entirely happy at all. But whoever said that it was supposed to be like that anyway?

To all the people who greeted me. Thank you very much!