It occurs to me that May is my working anniversary month. That’s when I officially entered the workforce, mid May 1997. And I literally counted. Gosh, I’ve been working for 14 long years! That’s a very extended time to have worked! What have I achieved? Well, I guess I am not doing very bad. I can say I’m doing rather good. We measure ourselves against our own yardstick anyway. There’ll be people who raise above us, there’ll be people who we get to advance better than, there are also people who are more or less, in the same lane as us. Having been working in only 2 companies within that 14 years duration, with a very short stint at my first job, is probably the factor I don’t find myself on a meteoric rise. Let’s admit the obvious shift in the traditional rules. Rolling stones do gather more moss. 20-30% each time you jump, that certainly would lead you somewhere. I do sometimes look back and felt I could have done better. But, I don’t regret either. Money is not the only thing one pursues. As we get older, we seek for a quality, balanced life, more to feed our soul and emotional needs rather than thinking how much money can our job brings in.
I am slow in picking up the political games people play at work. I had a nice, very knowledgeable boss. He even volunteered to do presentations on my behalf so that I can focus on other tasks. Little did I know that he was taking credits for my work! He climbed the ladder, taking a big portion of the cake while leaving us, his innocent subordinates behind. Of course, one can only remain naïve for so long. These are the things we all learn from experience. We live and we learn. It is ok. Get knocked early in life, and we learn faster. I missed my first bonus, because I joined 2 weeks before the cutoff date. Mere 2 weeks. And I missed my pay from the previous company as well because I didn’t give enough notice. So, yes, don’t do things half way. Just go all out.
The things we do after finally earning on our own buck is, of course, rewarding ourselves. I paid for a blouse I would think thrice If I were to pay now. I went to a ‘proper’ hair saloon right smack in the city, only to find I didn’t have enough cash to pay for the service. Hahhah. I can still recall how the lady reacted to that, must be more shocked than me perhaps. And how she can’t hide her relief, beaming ear to ear, when I DID return to pay her the balance. That was hilarious. I was fun those days.
Yes, those days when we were younger and fun. I used to have a group of colleagues around my age. That was the best of times. How we took turn to bring breakfast to work, snacks for tea break and how we communicated with each other through PC and giggled at our own jokes, all because our suspicious boss was around. How would he be not suspicious? The keyboards suddenly became hyperactive because we just can’t wait to type funny replies. We have peer torture, too. When one person returned to office after long holiday, we either messed up his desk terribly or pretended nothing happens when he came back, no greeting no nothing, until the poor guy just can’t stand any more and had to plead for some attention. We would all burst out laughing. Sometimes, I do wonder why my group of colleagues later are not as fun as them? Well, probably age, probably we are just having different characters. Life is full of ups and downs, so the cliché goes. But, that’s just true and evergreen. Sometimes, things happens in our favour, sometimes surroundings stress us up.
I now want to have a job where I am happy spending time doing it. A group of workmates who are happy and fun. They say, the road to the top is lonely. It is even lonely when you are at the top. There’s a price to everything. But, I do believe, if we are at the top, we have the influence to effect change. A bit at a time. Besides, who comes to work wanting to feel dull and boring? We all want to have good times. Being appreciated, feeling good, knowing that our contribution doesn’t go unnoticed. People of all walks of life share a common needs. The needs to feel belonging and appreciated.
