As much as I don't want to write about work too much I could not resist describing these new faces who have contributed so much to my useful one month on the job. I wasn't going to dare mention my boss for fear of getting kicked out before I had the chance to utter "regularization" but then I realized how incomplete an office profile would be without a few praises *coughs* for the one who heads us all.
Kidding.
The praises are actually intended for my office mates: marketing powerhouses Sue and Ellaine who, these past few weeks, have been nothing but supportive and CRAZY (yep, that's why we get along superbly).
Sue's the hardworking office girl who, when she gets focused on the task at hand, is simply absorbed in a little jobworld of her own. But then her jokes are classic and so laugh-worthy her seemingly shy personality becomes just the prelude to a funnier, more interesting Sue. Her Maria Clara allure takes on a new light the moment you've shared a meal, a cup of coffee, or a simple coke-and-pandesal moment with her. So far, I've never succeeded at NOT laughing at her subtle yet uber funny punchlines.
Then there's Ellaine, the bouncy HyperEllaine, whose boisterous laugh reverberates in our small toasty office like church bells on rainy days. Except on really depressing days (caused by none other than the one who heads us all), I've never seen her sulk in the corner or stay quite. Period. Her many adoring fans - brokers and agents included -speak for her amiable personality and jovial disposition. Funny how I thought otherwise the first day we met.
In a job with top management problems and disorganized professional environment, who do I call? Who do I cling to and bare my soul but to my new found friends with whom I share the same sentiments? I have yet to receive my first verbal punch and I'm looking forward to it, if only to prove I'm not losing anything.
UPDATE: February 26, 2009
Six months on the job...
* I've shed tears out of sheer frustration. She-wh0-must-not-be-mentioned is just as evil as her stinkin' reputation.
* Sue is resigning.
* And Ellaine is sure to follow suit.
* We have a new office mate named Joel, and seeing him retort is enough to make us happy.
* I'm happy with my job except that there are factors involved (one of which is the Queen Mother) that are way too important to ignore.
* I'm resigning too, only not in a few months. Too bad...
Night falls. Young boys of 20 holler. Hungry little girls beg for dinner. Feisty corporate women drive to yet another rendezvous. Restaurants begin to fill. Girls in skimpy skirts saunter down the sidewalk. While fat bearded wife-beaters eye their bosoms. Uniformed heroes of the future share inside jokes. Sweat-slicked vendors exchange merchandise. Cons of their own philosophies dine in solitude. Practiced salesmen polish their speeches. Shopaholics indulge in yet another sweet misadventure.
Lights glimmer. Wide lanes shrink in smoke. Gritty gutters widen. Billboards flash their stories. While buildings keep writing theirs. Trash comes back for an encore. Stalls cradle their goods. Shirts parade in a suffocating blur. Tires run in tireless commotion. Echoes ask and answer questions.
In this endless hurl of city confusion...
*God I'm definitely not settling down in Cebu*
Lights glimmer. Wide lanes shrink in smoke. Gritty gutters widen. Billboards flash their stories. While buildings keep writing theirs. Trash comes back for an encore. Stalls cradle their goods. Shirts parade in a suffocating blur. Tires run in tireless commotion. Echoes ask and answer questions.
In this endless hurl of city confusion...
*God I'm definitely not settling down in Cebu*
I see a lot of people pass by the newly constructed overpass not noticing the gleaming blue of the sky as it peeks from the rust-eaten hole on the roof. I see a lot of them come and go, never pausing for coffee or even the smell of it. I pass by different groups and varied races, indifferent yet unanimously repulsed by beggars and their loads. Perhaps the sight of dirty feet and tattered dirt bags remind them of a haunting past; Or maybe of rotting attitudes and hidden weaknesses.
I see recurring expressions and hear a multitude of laughter. I notice friendly inviting masks conveniently hiding grievances from the world. As the morning mist thickens into the afternoon heat, I see everyone lost in their own transactions busily monitoring someone else's lives but their own. I see it everyday, even when I look in the mirror at night as I prepare to end the day's work.
I am finally happy with my job - not officially my first but my first love nonetheless - and is decidedly settling down into where I hope to establish an area of expertise and a coven of concentration. I've finally made it to the corporate world after 5 grueling months of bumming and job hunting, flirting with the possibility of a promising career and disregarding the countless emotional bruises along the way.
A week shy of receiving my first salary, I feel like a volleyball bouncing from side to side but never settling for any. Working at Robinsons Land Corporation felt like a dream, an imagination topped with more imagination. I sometimes feel giddy til reality kicks in and hands over a picture of a demanding boss (one that is virtually disliked by everybody), an unimpressive colorless office, and a confusing job description. But then again not everything about reality bites as at the back of each picture reveals a portrait of approachable office mates, happy lunch hours, and priceless bonding.
And then there's the job... the one thing that keeps me looking forward to another confusing work day. (*_*)v
A week shy of receiving my first salary, I feel like a volleyball bouncing from side to side but never settling for any. Working at Robinsons Land Corporation felt like a dream, an imagination topped with more imagination. I sometimes feel giddy til reality kicks in and hands over a picture of a demanding boss (one that is virtually disliked by everybody), an unimpressive colorless office, and a confusing job description. But then again not everything about reality bites as at the back of each picture reveals a portrait of approachable office mates, happy lunch hours, and priceless bonding.
And then there's the job... the one thing that keeps me looking forward to another confusing work day. (*_*)v
I am self-proclaiming to be the Interview Queen who couldn't get a real job in well known companies because of reasons I couldn't fathom. And by real job I do not mean to include call centers (no matter how prestigious they may be) and small businesses in need of flunkies who would settle for a dime in exchange for their honest labor. Call me stupid for maintaining a standard fresh graduates of today ought not be thinking about. Shoot me for being tooooo ambitious. Judge me guilty for wanting to pursue a career in a well-known company in the real estate/food and beverage/hospitality industry that pays a little more than minimum wage.
As I face the computer, fervently pounding on the keyboard, the other side of my brain is rounding up words that would make up a great application letter. I am once again applying... but for an international company no one's ever heard of. It isn't my nature but I'm sensing positive vibrations about this. If by having a great feeling about a potential job offer sends someone straight to heaven then I'm in Nirvana right now. I am well aware of my current unemployed situation - something that never should've happened had I decided to wait until the end of the month. This isn't something a normal 20-something fresh graduate should be feeling having quit from a really really high-paying company after only a week of training and turned down what could've evolved into a lucrative web-based career.
My parents don't know that my call center career already ended before it even began. Ironically, I realized what a disaster of an agent I would have been after receiving several text messages from my mom pushing me to go on. Obviously it didn't push me enough. What was supposed to be words of encouragement made me realize how wrong the path I was beginning to take was. A friend shared an advice from her father - about quitting not because you're stressed but because the job isn't making you happy anymore. My week in the call center taught me well, taught me enough. I was contemplating resignation after my first day and telling my batchmates about my plans of letting go. I wasn't happy even from the beginning. At least I can really say I am not cut out for it.
I am paying the price for being choosy (and I am talking about superlatives here!) and idealistic. I am unemployed and too absorbed in the drama of it all. I refuse to quit yet I don't know what the heck to do and where to go next.
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