Office Space

I am into watching torrents for a while now, something to do with catching up with the all the movies I should have seen. This weekend I watched a 1999 comedy called "Office Space" which is basically about a guy who hates his job. I also have a love-hate relationship with my jobs and I've been going through the "hate" phase lately.

Tamad na tamad akong magtrabaho these days. I get so grouchy that I would literally grunt whenever I get calls and I couldn't wait for the day to end. I wear the same clothes. The top I wore Monday last week, I will wear Wednesday this week. And my shoes would be wrong for my pants. It's not that I don't care about how I look, I'm just not excited going to that place that I don't really prepare for it. So I will just show up in the office, sometimes late, wearing whatever I find. 

I'm currently working on this grown up thing that pretty much wiped out my entire savings. Now more than ever, I should be taking my job seriously because for the next 30 years I cannot be without a job. If anything I should be striving for growth because I now have serious responsibilities in life. But with all those aside, really, kahit wala akong bills na babayaran, it's not right to be lazy. For one, work is worship. Two and I should mention, the most important reason why I should love this work - God has put me in a good place. It's not like working for Google but compared to other workplaces out there, compared sa previous work ko, this place is great. Ang layo ng diperensiya!

3 years ago, a call center would hire and fly me to Ohio for training but because I didnt have a passport they had to give the spot to someone else. Gumuho ang mundo ko at naranasan ko ang mabigo. Pumirma lang ako sa company na 'to because I needed to be working right away or else I'd be depressed. That was all it was to me, ang unang company na tumanggap sakin. Now as I remember this, I can see how God directs us, closing doors of opportunities if He needs to so he can guide us to a better path. 

This is not saying that this place is heaven. Oh no! No, no, no! Having mixed cultures acquired from different BPOs, my colleagues and I make this place hell for each other too sometimes. Kahit saan naman siguro where there are interaction among people magkakaroon din ng friction and differences. I guess what sets this place apart from the rest is that, values and rules were set that it is not favorable for the bad things to thrive. 

Going back to the movie, Jennifer Aniston has this to say towards the end: "everybody hates their jobs, but you have to find something in it to be happy about".  Now the whole time I was at it I was thinking to myself, "Why the heck did I download this?". Haha. Sure it made me laugh a few times, but it's basically like an Andrew E. kind of film. So nakakatuwang isipin na may morals din palang mapupulot dito, mantakin mo yun. There should be T- shirts around  with this line printed on it. Now in my case, I don't have to look hard to find stuff I should be happy about this job. TL Nelle is the best. My teammates are nice (to me atleast haha). The light workload makes it less challenging, but this also means we have extra room to focus on developing other skills. We can bring in our gadgets and we can Wi-Fi at work. Plus we get free food sometimes. Now, that's not too shabby, is it?

I would still have a bad day for sure. Tatamarin pa din ako. Mamaya lang baka late na naman ako. Hehe. But I will constantly make a conscious decision to be thankful for this job. After all, I had some savings to blow because God blessed me through this.

Beautiful at 30

"Kel, may ipapakita ako sa'yo" biglang sabi ni Je sabay scroll sa BlackBerry niya. We were talking and seating comfortably on that couch in Starbucks Fort and this appears to be a sudden change of topic about something serious.

"Masasaktan ba 'ko diyan?" I asked. We have been together for hours already and have talked about the important stuff so I wonder what this is going to be about this time. 

"Sira!" she answered, still scrolling through her BB as if looking for something. "Nakakita kasi ako ng picture mo dati. Alam mo ang layo." sabi niya. 

Ayos, thank you ah, I thought to myself. "Throwback?" I asked her.

"Oo. Throwback." she answered. As far as I know I have hidden those throwback tags from my facebook timeline to make sure nobody sees them. There were also only 2 I think. 

She handed me her BB then stood up. "Basahin mo, CR lang ako." I took her phone then she walked towards the restroom. 

On her phone was a note she typed and entitled Beautiful at 30 which has this quote from Jane Austen's "Persuasion". I had to read it over and over.  

When she came back, she asked me what I thought of it. Paano ka ba naman magrerespond sa ganon di ba? Ugh...thank you! Wow ang douchebag! Haha. I think the first thing I said was how my skin is clearer now. "I'm healed!" I said jokingly and she laughed. I also told her how I watch what I eat and that might have contributed to it. Then I told her that I take long showers because I use body scrubs. She asked me what scrub I use, I told her that Indonesian something endorsed by Solenn Heussaff. I was surprised to find out that she doesn't know her. Then our topic jumped to how she doesn't know Solenn, Bruno Mars and Arnold Clavio. I don't remember saying thank you.

A day after that meeting, I remembered this and thought about googling that quote. This morning I posted this on her facebook wall.

By the way, this is not me basking at being beautiful. If you can see me as I type this joke na kaagad ang lahat ng ito. Besides, the quote has a sidenote about how I looked 10 years ago. Actually, if you see it the other way, one might even get insulted. Hehe. Point is, this simply means I look better now than before. I think I can agree to that.

Nakakatuwa lang isipin that a person would see a quote written years ago and be reminded of you. It also says "it sometimes happens", hindi lagi. Isa daw ako sa minsan na yun. Haha.  And yes, the best compliments are from the people who have seen you at your ugliest.