Job Thoughts

It was a very busy week in the office indeed. At one point it became too stressful that I had to let off some steam, relax, step back and think of where this “career” of mine is heading. My FAQs on this are normally these:

1. What do I see myself as, in 10 years from now?
2. What do I hope to have achieved in 10 years from now?
3. Would I regret having stayed at my current job for so long, 10 years from now?
4. If I do stay at this job for another, say 10 years, how would I turn out financially?
5. At the end of my life, what would I have wanted to achieve? And would that be achieved if I stay in the “corporate world”, like what I am doing now?



I question myself these, normally at about 5.30pm, when the office is almost empty, when almost everyone has left, and yet..yours truly has to stay and complete unfinished tasks or attend meetings, still. Gazing out of my window, looking out at the beautiful lake beyond and the golf course not too far out, I feel a pang of jealousy when care-free jet-skiers whiz by in sexy swimwear (and loook so goood), that I pray that they “fall!fall! yes! fall!” * evil witch Anedra-me* (and when they do, I jump up and clap!clap!). It gets worse when I see through the binoculars that I have stashed in my drawers, golfers lazily walking on the smooth green beyond the lake, laughing and chatting as though they have nothing else in the world to think about, no deadlines to meet, no company targets to achieve, blah blah *boring stuff * blah blah, like poor old me!

So, I’ve asked myself many a times, what would I do if I were to quit my job? Me, being me, I still would have to work or else I’m sure I’ll end up a Desperate Housewife Malaysian version…but not a job that takes me 12 hours a day away from home..and yet a job which I find equally satisfying (my demented brain thinks that current job is still a “one in a million” kinda job! Gotta go rehab! Perhaps it’s something they put in then coffee they make me everyday!)

At my daily half hour sessions at Ely's Kedai Kopi with my lovely gal pals Ely and OODy, we have discussed these issues. We asked ourselves, what would we do as “alternative jobs”..jobs that require no brains (maybe a wee bit of brains) and not so stressful. After a few minutes of discussion, now I know, I can rely on these girls to turn my life around. Really. This is what we came up with:

Waitress
Kindergarten Teacher but only for singing and play-time classes
McDonald’s Crew
Starbucks Barista (we’re so perasan we think Starbucks will take Old Dames like us)
Security Guard
Dog/Cat Walker

See, these women are geniuses, which is why I love em so much! …and you can see that we are not so ambitious that we don't wanna become millionaires or anything like that although we wanna go shopping every other week and go listen to music and go karaoke and have tea parties. Maybe we really think that money will fall on our laps from nowhere..just enough for us to achieve what we want without distressing our beloved hubbies!! Oh well! Next time I will remember to add the word “sane” to the “no brains” job that we’re looking out for! Plus, it would be good if the job is related to something we are passionate about; and to quote my COO, "work with passion" and I’ll add “for passion” to that!

But seriously, as I do not intend to see myself climbing the corporate ladder like some think I will (Dad, if you’re reading this... Sorry! I’m not going for a CEO/COO position in 10 years despite what you think but thanks for "believing in me" anyway!), I do need to seriously think of what I want to achieve from this life of mine. I do not want to be spending 80% of my waking hours in an office, working for people and in traffic jams for a purpose that is not all too clear with me except for the not-so-fat paycheque I take home every end of each month. I do want fulfill my duty to the human race and society, somehow, because I think I am capable and sane enough to do so…and I would like to die having left something more than money, if any, behind for the people I care for. And like my kedai kopi host says, probably do something that I never thought I’d ever do in my life like, errr…cat/dog walking? Except in my case it’ll probably be walking around with old people instead of animals as I am a natural “penggeli haiwan”!

So, it is weekend already, and I am still entertaining thoughts of a job different from what I am doing now. My management must have read my mind from the frowns persistently on my face and have cushioned the distress with some rasuah in the form of my bonus! Yippppeeee! But still, like I said, seriously, I’ve got to figure life out and what I want to have achieved from it.

So tell me o wise blog friends. Any ideas on a sane job that doesn’t require so much brains?? Ok lah.. I don’t mind using my brains once in a while! Something that pays enough for a twice monthly shopping spree (and we’re not even talking boutique shopping but if can, better lah!), teh tarik sessions, once in a while live music sessions with my pals OODy and Ely and anybody else that wants to come!

Tell me lah, ok?

Ps. Ian Wright – if you’re reading this, please resign from your job at Globe Trekker on Discovery Travel and Adventure. Actually, it’s YOUR job I want!…and, errrr…call me!