Snippet Of My Life Episode 25 – Five Stories, Work Inspired

In this episode, I have five stories to share.  All are work inspired, somewhat.

*     *     Screw Bloggers At Your Own Risk     *     *

Recently, a friend of mine forwarded me a link to a juicy gossip that finds its way propagating through the social networks.  The subject of this gossip?  A man who works in the same bank as me, shares the same office building with me – in the past and in the not so distant future.  The body of the gossip, I must say, is nicely crafted and it is titled ‘Are You Dating a Cheater?’.  Real life episodes are used based on the blogger’s personal experience with this man and there is no mentioning of the banker’s identity.  Only with a hint.  An entertaining read while staying away from the possibility of getting sued for defamation.  The comment section of this gossip, however, takes on a life of its own.  Anonymous readers have stepped up to expose his identity, painted a picture of him not only as a cheater who promises the girls – quite a few of them – a relationship and delivers none, but also someone who is knowingly spreading sexual transmitted diseases.  Some readers speculated that this Westerner is under treatment for herpes.  At least one confessed that she has contracted chlamydia from him.

Another friend of mine at work asked if I would give my 2-cent here in my website with a friendly warning that the girls are ready to rip any man apart for those who dare to trespass.  My personal thought given the gravity of the situation with a disease spreading cheater on one side and a group of sexually active girls who may or may not practice safe sex on the other side?  Try not to screw the bloggers, literally and figuratively.  Or you could be more famous than you think, for the wrong reason.

PS. I do not intend to post the link here because curious as I may be, I have no means to verify the gossip except the banker’s name exists in our corporate global address book.

*     *     Are We Seeing The Same Work Life Balance?     *     *

I have this theory.  For some, long hours follow you wherever you go.  Here is what I observe.  Time and time again, I have seen friends and colleagues who constantly put in long hours at work.  Most of the time, they seem OK with the arrangement.  I hardly get to see them, for obvious reason.  Some may complain about it and continue doing the same long hours, for months, for years, for decades.  Then one day, they have come to their realization that not having a life is not OK.  So they found another job and guess what?  The long hours follow them.  And the cycle repeats itself.  If you are stuck in such cycle, time to rethink your priorities in life.

Recently, I have a conversation with a colleague on this very topic.  She told me that she loves a good work life balance and is having one.  Jolly good, I said.  What about that 6 to 7 pm meeting she was asked to arrange?  A request from someone who corrected me that 6 to 7 pm is in the afternoon, not evening?  She seems cool with it because she enjoys the flexible working hours.  And then it struck me.  Perhaps we are not seeing the same work life balance.  Perhaps all of us think that we are having some level of work life balance.  And it is OK.  Life goes on.

*     *     It Is Not Just A Desk     *     *

You know what my dream work day would be like?  Start with desk that I am entitled at work.  One that I could decorate with my personal items.  Such as my mug.  And if that desk comes with four walls, some windows, and a door, that would be ideal.  While some may have their career followed by a long hours monster, mine is haunted by a no desk ghost.  Looking at my colleagues who are doing more or less the same type of work as me and are entitled to a desk of their own while I am camping at one corner feeling thankful that I have a place to do my work for another month, it makes me wonder.

And no, hot desk is not a desk.  Although in my current predicament, it may well be a better option.  Changi here I come!

*     *     What Do You Want To Do?     *     *

One fine afternoon, by the Singapore river, I was having lunch with one of my mentors at work.  And she asked, “What do you want to do [with your career]?”.  Point-blank.  I was speechless.  The humor of it, if at all, is that I often ask this question to my friends whom seek advice or inspiration for their next career move.  Rarely do I get asked on that.

What do I want to do?

To be honest, I do not think what I want to do matters in an organization.  Not even what I can do.  People are put onto different roles guided by the process and so long as you can read, write, speak, and ask questions, you can do almost anything – in a generalist flavored environment that is.

What do I want to do?  Doing the same thing I am doing.  Not doing the same thing I am doing.  Gosh, life can be complicated.  Time to plan for my summer holiday instead.

*     *     What Did I Want To Be When I Was Young?     *     *

Finally, our teacher taught us pretérito imperfecto during yesterday’s Spanish class.  It is a tense used to describe some past events that no longer happen.  Naturally, the question of ‘what did you want to be when you were young’ popped up.  What did I want to be?  Believe it or not, when I was a very young boy, I wanted to be a bus driver.  And I ponder: why is it so hard to answer ‘what do you want to do’ as a grown-up?