Buti ka pa….

I met an old friend yesterday for coffee and catching up. She is currently starting a new job here in Singapore and as expected – maraming reklamo! Hindi na ito bago. Lahat naman kasi tayo ay nagkakaroon ng  “culture shock” when working with other nationalities. And since Singapore is multi-racial — it will be quite common that you will be working with Indians, Singaporeans, Malaysians and fellow Filipinos. Idagadag mo pa dyan ang mga “foreign” schooled na mga kaintsikan. They can be considered as another nationality as their thinking and work ethics are diffreret from those locally schooled.

It was a normal kwentuhan. Nilait namin ng nilait ang mga tagarito. We both agreed that our work in the Philippines is way easier than here. We share the same sentiments na if not for the good salary – it will be better to work sa traffic infested na Pinas. Okay na sana ang kwentuhan ng mag-dialogue sya…. “Buti ka pa nga… as programmer … sinusunod mo lang ang binibigay sa yo… ako hirap na hirap dealing with people”. Hmmm…medyo di maganda ang dating ng statement sa akin. I know she doesn’t mean anything bad… but still… I’m a little irritated by it. Anyway – sabi ko na lang….  I have handled more than programming tasks — medyo napagkatiwalaan na rin naman ako ng mga amok o. Kaya – hindi na rin ako nakulong sa apat na sulok ng cubicle ko. I have worked with different nationalities na may iba’t ibang posisyon sa company. Saka – hindi porke’t sinabing Programmer – ay nakatali ka na lang lagi sa computer. We also need to deal with other people. So kung anuman ang nararansan nyo sa service industry … malamang nararanasan din namin… sa ibang way nga lang.  Afterwards – I changed the topic so as not to spoil the night.

Nung pauwi na ako — naisip ko ulit ito. Why is it common for us to think na ang ginagawa natin ay mas mahirap compared sa ginagawa ng iba?  Is this a case of the grass being greener on the other side of the fence? Hmmm…. Let’s say — a doctor and a teacher. Which one is harder? Di ba pareho namang mahirap? A doctor saves peoples lives… a teacher helps  mold a person’s future. Walang itulak kabigin! Parehong importante… parehong mahirap. Let’s say a fast foold branch manager and a bank programmer.  Alin ang mas madali? Kung tutuusin – both sector are customer oriented di ba? A programmer needs special skills para mapadali ang trabaho ng mga tao sa bangko at mapabilis ang service to the customer. A fastfood branch manager also needs certain skills  to make sure that everything is ok para makapagprovide ng fast service to the customer.  Can we say that the manager job is easier than the programmer job? Di naman di ba?

 Hay… wala lang…. just some random thoughts na wala naman talagang kasagutan. All we can do is accept the fact na lahat ng trabaho ay mahirap. Kaya nga ito tinawag na trabaho. Otherwise — vacation ang tawag dito.