Ang Singaw ng Kili-kili ng Trabahador

Gusto ko lang sabihin na lagi naman talaga akong naliligo, pag kailangan. Kasi kanina 10:30 am pala pasok ko akala  ko 11:30 am, basta hindi ako naligo. Paliwanag pa e. Malamig naman dito't hindi ka pagpapawisan kaya okay lang. 

Dito talaga ako kinakabahan e, yung baka masanay ako sa "Malamig naman e, di ako pagpapawisan" mentality. Nasa Pinas palang ako pinagiisipan ko na to ng maiige. Kasi sa Pinas, sa sobrang init, matinding importansya na magkuskos ka ng mga libag, kundi mag-aamoy pambihira ka. Dito kasi sa Canada, kahit di ka maligo ng tatlong araw, okay lang. Sabi nila huh, di ko pa naexperience. 

Anyway, as you all know, I am currently working as a supervisor at a Subway store here in Canada. The work that I do is not easy. Well no work is really easy. The difficulty of a certain job is relative after all. My job is difficult in my opinion, because aside from the physical work, I also manage the day-to-day decision making in the store. And together, it could be very stressful. 

Don't get me wrong, I am NOT complaining. I love what I do. This is what I wanted ever since. Eventually, if everything goes smoothly, I am looking forward to be in a higher position-a manager hopefully. I chose this line of work. All I ever wanted to be when I was a little kid was to work in a hotel or a food establishment. I remember how fascinated I was as a child by the carpeted hallways in a hotel. I love that it has central air-conditioning units and that it has dimmed lights on every walls. The smell, the chill atmosphere, everything about it delighted me. These simple details ignited my desire to work in a hotel. 
I also dreamed of working in a restaurant.Mainly because I enjoy food, and I can cook. I aspire to manage a restaurant operation one day. I wanna have a say on what to put on the menu, the theme, the pricing, the market... everything. This is my passion.

Choosing Hotel and Restaurant Management in college is a no-brainer. Although I was encouraged to take something different. Something "better". Something that can get me a high-paying job in the future here in Canada. So I did. I took up a Computer Science course instead. It lasted a week. 
Haha I hated it. 

Ang daming math punyeta. Alam mo yung feeling na lahat ng katabi mo panay ang recite sa mga tanong ng prof, tipong alam na alam nila kung ano pinagsasabi ng prof, tapos ikaw, gulong gulo ka pa sa ibig sabihin ng algorithm! Hanep talaga, tapos yung differential calculus pang yan. Calculus nga halos kumain na ko ng naptalina, gawin mo pang differential. Sakit talaga sa ulo. Sakit sa pride na yung kaklase mo nakagawa na ng "Reg Form" sa HTML, ikaw, hindi mo pa alam kung san makikita yung software. Kaya tuloy sa may Waltermart nalang ako nagpapagawa ng Regform e, mura lang naman. La pa effort. 

Thinking I would be working in an office for the rest of my life, It just didn't feel right. I have nothing against office jobs per se, but I just can't see myself in a cubicle, typing and shit. I wasn't happy. I don't regret enrolling computer science for a week, because it made me realize how important it is to be very certain in life.

And I was certain that I will be happy studying HRM in the long run. And changing my course to it is one of the best decisions in my life. So now, yes, I am currently in a place where I always wanted to be. 

It wasn't easy looking for a job here in Canada. I tried to apply in some of the hotels near by, but most of them didn't call. The ones that did call gave me a phone interview, but it didn't turn out so well. I wasn't prepared. I didn't know anything about the hotels I was applying for. To be fair, I did apply to several hotels and I didn't expect them to call right away. I sounded unprepared and I didn't get the job. While sending out a fresh batch of resumes and doing walk-ins, Subway called and fortunately, they have an opening for a Sandwich Artist. I was really confident during the interview. Somehow I know I'm gonna get the job. I've said my piece and blabbered about being hardworking and adaptable to the environment, you know, the usual "I am very good in customer service and shit". 2 days later I got the job.

You'd think this is some kind of a success story or that this is merely about getting a job.

You see, getting this gig was easy for me. Work now is manageable. The hard part is convincing everyone that what I do is worth mentioning in a family dinner. Haha. fuck it right? I mean I don't really care, (I understand if you don't believe me, since I had to write a blog about it) but it is true man, I couldn't care less what they think about my job. I'm talking about this for the sake of talking about it, and just maybe you'd understand where I'm coming from.

The irony is that there is nothing wrong with my job at all. I mean I am a supervisor in the most popular franchises in the world. And If I'm in the Philippines, some would say it is a huge deal. In Canada though, it just isn't as prestigious as working as a doctor, or a lawyer, or anything that requires a suit. I grew up knowing that my relatives are very important people in the society. They have high paying jobs and they're in a respectable line of work. Some of them are really, really talented as well. Very articulate. Very decent in several aspects. Consequently, I have considered myself as the black sheep of the family, even today.

Pero naisip ko lang, kung sa Canada kaya ako nagsimula at nakapagtapos ng pagaaral, malamang sa malamang nasa "mataas" din akong posisyon ngayon. O kung siguro sa Brent, o sa Ateneo, o sa UP o La Salle Manila, baka hindi ko na kailangan mag Canada para makakuha ng magandang opurtunidad. Pero hindi e, hindi yun binigay ng pagkakataon sakin. Eto yung meron ako, nagawa kong panindigan, at napatunayan kong dito ako sa larangan to mahusay at higit sa lahat, masaya. 

I am proud of my accomplishments at my age. But that doesn't mean I'm done hoping for a better life. I am not finished yet. I still want to become a manager. I still dream of putting up my own restaurant in the future. I still dream of owning a resort in one of the best beaches in the Philippines. I still dream of giving my parents a farm and a small piggery.

Pero bago lahat to. Gusto ko munang magsimula sa baba. Gusto kong magisis ng kubeta, magtapon ng basura, magkuskos ng sahig at maglampaso. Gusto ko maranasan muna maghirap... paghirapan ang pera. Kailangan ko maranasan to dahil gusto ko, sa parehong paraang gusto kong maranasan to dahil kailangan ko. Magulo pero this makes sense to me. 

I wanna earn everything that comes to me. I wanna make sure that I could be proud of my accomplishments, because it was all me. I can say that all I will have in the future, I worked hard for. 

Gusto ko na kung may sarili na kong restawran at may mga sariling empleyado, gusto ko na pag sinabihan ako ng "Ikaw kaya magtanggal ng tae sa kasilyas!" Gusto ko malakas ang loob kong sabihin na nagawa ko din yan dati. Na me kredibilidad akong mag-utos kasi nautusan din ako dati. At pinaghirapan ko kung asan ako ngayon. 

Bakit ko ikakahiya na sa isang "pangkaraniwang" establisyemento lang ako nagtatrabaho? E ano naman kung hanggang ngayon e taga-gawa lang ako ng sandwich at taga dagdag ng gulay ng mga patay gutom na kustomer, na kung makapag "can you add more lettuce? can you add more pickles? Tangina sir, kambing ka dati? Wala kasing kaso sakin to e. Gusto ko bang tumanda sa ganitong kalagayan? Hindi. 



Kaya nga ako nagtatrabaho at nagiipon ay para mag tayo ng sarili kong negosyo. Hotel and Restaurant Management ang course ko. Para sa mga bobong iniisip na pagluluto lang ito, o sa mga nagiisip na para sa mga ampaw (maganda sa labas, hangin sa loob) lang ang course na to, tama kayo, haha madami ding ampaw, pero meron ding may potensyal! Bakit ang Business Management nirerespeto, pero pag sinabing Hospitality Management, my negative connotation? E parehas namang management? Ang labo, pero hayaan mo na. Bottom line, kung san ka masaya na course, suportanta ka.


Look, there are people who happen to grow up with a family business to inherit. Some were born geniuses. Some were born rich that they got the chance to obtain a first-class education. These people played life on easy mode, with cheat codes. 

Some didn't grow up with any of these but had the opportunity, and a huge deal of luck, to be in a better position today. They will always feel like they worked hard to be where they are right now. And that you are where you are because you didn't try hard enough, that you are incompetent. Maybe they're right, maybe they did actually work hard, and maybe you're just lazy as fuck, either way they will still feel entitled to look down on you no matter what. Where else do you look once you're already at the top?

Pero wag mo nang intindihin yun. Masyado kang busy para magisip ng magisip ng paraan para itaas ang sarili mo sa lebel nila. Pagod na nga katawan mo sa trabaho, pati ba naman yung isip mo papahirapan mo pa. Hinding hindi mo sila ma-pi-please kahit kailan. At kung may maliit na milagrong maging proud sila sayo, hindi mo na din dapat bigyan ng pansin yun. Kasi wala sila sa panig mo nung naghihirap ka, bakit kailangang andun sila nung maginhawa ka na? 

Paligiran mo lang ang sarili mo ng mga taong nagtitiwala sa kakayahan mo. Yung mga taong kasama mo sa hirap, yung mga nasasabihan mo nang reklamo sa trabaho ng walang panghuhusga. Sila dapat ang maging dahilan kung bakit mo pinagbubuti ang trabaho mo. Dahil gusto mo silang kasama sa pag asenso. Minsan, kapag sa tropa nanggaling yung "Shit bilib na bilib ako sayo! I'm proud of you!", minsan yun talaga yung tagos sa puso e, dahil hindi nila sinabi yun kasi obligasyon nila, sinabi nila yun kasi bukal sa kalooban nila.