To be an @$$**** or not to be an @$$****

I´ve been working for seven years now. I have worked with good people who want nothing more than to do their jobs and go the extra mile, not caring if they get rewarded or not. I have worked with people who have no ambition at all. They just want that next paycheck and the next after that, trying to keep their head down and stay out of trouble. I have worked with the worst corporate climbers ever, doing anything and everything to get to the top. I have had arrogant bosses. I have had smart but insecure bosses. I have had super smart bosses who enjoy nothing more than the work they do.

After all that I have reached an unpleasant realization.

Most people are @$$****s.

From the insecure boss to the ambitious but totally untalented corporate climbers.

That alone pisses me off. But I can handle that. What I cannot handle is the way that these @$$****s rule the corporate world. They do. Perhaps they do deserve some of it. I concede that they worked hard. But once they reached the top, they forgot how it was like to claw their way up to the top. They forget that they were once like those lowly peons they thanklessly work to the ground and lower into hell.

It is so prevalent that I catch myself thinking: What if I became an @$$**** myself? Will I be more successful? I have never much entertained thoughts of advancing to the very top, although it is a very appealing prospect. I´m one of those people who just enjoys what he does. I enjoy knowing that I help people do their jobs just a little bit easier. It helps me make a living as well, so no worries there. I´m your stereotype nice guy.

Maybe it is for that reason that I get really pissed by corporate @$$****s. And I get pissed that they advance faster than nicer, more talented men and women I know. I get pissed when a company that touts itself a meritocracy is still a victim of petty office politics.

But what do I know? I just work there.

Interacting with My Local Government

It was my birthday on the second day of this year. Intent on getting much needed rest, I wasn´t paying much attention to my other concerns during my birthday. Two weeks later a colleague of mine mentioned that she had just gotten her driver´s license renewed. That struck a chord of uneasiness in me, so I inspected my own driver´s license. Sure enough, it had expired on my birthday.

So I steeled myself to performing the indomitable chore that is known in our country as: Going to a Government office and applying for something.

It has always been the same experience for me no matter whichever government office I went to. Inefficiency and lassitude run rampant.

So I steeled myself for what was to come, expecting the least and worst of the people I would have to meet.

Sure enough, when I got to the provincial LTO office, it did not disappoint me. I was kept waiting for half an hour more than was necessary. Thinking on it, it wasn´t so bad. Maybe they learned some efficiency in the last three years. The medical test was fine and I was approved to get a license by the doctor. But when the time came that I was to fill up the application form and submit it, I was told that I needed to present a government issued ID with my Tax number on it. I wondered, why do I need an ID with my Tax number on it? I wasn´t going to drive a cab. My license was non-professional. Then I thought. ¨ah! of course! They want something to ´grease´ the wheels¨. I couldn´t be party to that, so I abandoned that idea.

Instead I went to a satellite office inside a shopping mall, where the people are friendlier. There was only a moment of sheer panic, when the cashier asked her boss if my medical certificate was ok (since it was taken from the provincial clinic), but it was approved and in short order, I had my shiny new license.

I must admit I was surprised by the efficiency of that satellite office. And the courtesy of the people who worked there as well. It made them seem like a private company.

How I just wish our whole government was that way. Concerned with the people they serve, instead of lining their own pockets.

Dream on.

Here I go Again....

It´s a regular thing for me, I guess. I just can´t fully accept that the world isn´t really fair. I see all that is happening around us and I get so frickin furious. But then I see things happening closer to home and I realize that whatever happens to the whole world is just a reflection of what we are.

We are selfish beings, whether we admit it or not. It is an extension of the survival instinct. We must look out for ourselves in order to live. So I guess I mustn´t really be surprised to see all this injustice.

It´s just hard for me to watch as some people try to forget about themselves and try to live and help people. And then people take advantage of them and screw them all kinds of ways before dumping them. Leaving them a hollow shell of what they once were. Their idealism replaced by cynicism. Their compassion reduced to naiveté.

Oh, well. C´est la vie.

I guess the best I can do right now is this. Putting my thoughts into this Blog. Releasing the tension I feel. But more than that, I guess I should just realize how lucky I am. And that spreading that luck around isn´t a bad thing at all.

I can almost feel the sharks circling, waiting for a piece of the meat. Bring it on! Hurt me Plenty!

Simplicity

I remember the days when I still commuted to and from work. I had quite the commute. From Libis, Quezon City to Bacoor, Cavite. I passed through four major thoroughfares before I got home. Surprisingly, thinking back now, I realize it wasn`t all that bad. I got to read all the books I wanted on the bus. My cellphone used to be filled with tons of e-Books. I got to sleep on the road, even learning the art of sleeping standing up, without lurching and crushing a fellow passenger.

And then I realize I knew what I missed the most back then. The simple flow of my life. Wake up, get dressed. Eat breakfast. Ride with Dad until EDSA, and commute the rest of the way to the office. Work until you get tired, or even beyond that. Fall in line for the shuttle, sleep. Ride the MRT. Sleep, read. Ride the bus. Read, sleep. Get home, clean yourself up and hop into bed.

Simple.

I miss the good old days.

Thoughts in the Void

They say the human brain is more powerful than the most sophisticated computer. The problem with it is the limited storage space. Sometimes I feel that all my thoughts will just come spilling out of every orifice, staining my clothes.

So I thought, where can I go and siphon off some of my thoughts? Naturally, cyberspace is a prime candidate. With thousands of Terabytes of storage and growing exponentially every day, the internet is a wasteland of cyber-porn, social networks and e-commerce. Surely one small voice choking out a few words every now then will be welcome there.

So here it is, my contribution to cyberspace. Hello, great CyberVoid.

It... is..... ALIVE!

At last! After so long... It is ALIVE!

After putting it off for so long, I have finally created my own blog. I have been trying to convince myself to create a blog of my own for the longest time. Of course all the people around me have been encouraging, even badgering me to do so.

So now, here it is. At last.

I hope I have not just created a monster.....