Tales From the Office
May 12, 2008 at 6:27 pm (Worldwalk)
Tags: difficult people, Internship, office
Even though my feet are trembling
And every word I say comes tumbling
I will bare it all
Watch me unfold
-Marié Digby, “Unfold”
I’m getting hooked to Marié Digby lately. I wasn’t honestly that impressed with her version of Rihanna’s “Umbrella.” What got me interested in this Japanese-Irish musician is her original song “Fool.” I experimented with her other original compositions and fancied “Say It Again” and “Unfold” in the process. Her songs are simple and fall under the easy-listening genre. After all, I need simplicity to clear away the clutter in my life.
Anyway, my internship has finally come to an end. 200 hours of not only hard work but also engagement in office politics and assholes of coworkers. Not most of them, mind you, just two quite insignificant people who consider me more of an extra employee than a coworker.
Well I’m not here to bitch about simpletons. They simply aren’t worth my time and finger-effort. Although a small chunk of those 200 hours are wasted on the Internet, Yahoo! Messenger and basically doing nothing, the remaining hours were spent productively and meaningfully. I’m a Journalism student, and I’m damn glad I got to use my skills in writing for my on-the-job training. I got to write web content, Chinese fortunes and promo content. Easiest and most tedious of those writing jobs are those bloody English reviewers for a confidential project, so I’ll say no more regarding that.
Other than writing, I was also assigned no-sweat and practical tasks like going to the mailhouse to have cheques delivered and answering calls from (idiotic) callers. Once again, not all of them, mind you. Some are polite, some are graciously clueless while a handful are born without brains. There was this geezer who was bugging for his iPod Touch just after texting the promo code. As if iPods grow on trees. Then there were quite a few morons who used the hotline as an emotional barf bag, whining about why they can’t seem to win after texting a dozen codes and wasting pesos of load.
If only there was a cure for stupidity… But at least the consolation is knowing there are people stupider than you. “Go on and bitch about your sorry luck. At least I’m smart, and you’re not.”
Tasks aside, I’m also damn thankful my officemate, not counting those two whom I mentioned earlier, are very nice party people. My boss is down-to-earth and sociable. She even eats lunch with us at the back once in a while. She wears a smile on her face that you can’t seem to wipe off. I’s the kind of workplace that doesn’t have the austere office vibe. I can just grab coffee whenever I want. The representatives from this government agency even bring pastries and chips! They’re the type you can mingle with like having footlongs by the sides.
I’ll miss my internship. It was such a learning experience. It broke my notion of the office being a stadium of ass-sucking and stepping on each other’s heads. I’ve learned the value of patience and obedience, the strict methods of following orders and standing your guard. And as my mentor Winroen has always warned me, watch out for officemates harboring jealousy and insecurity. Those two are a good example.
You don’t have to kiss ass. You have to SUCK ass. And I took that literally.
I’ll prove you wrong one of these days, Amarent. Wait for it.
