WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GETS GOING...TO THE COFFEE SHOP FOR LATTE?

I had a rough morning today.

I woke up around 5:30am, made some quick noodles, bathed and flew to Tanjung Pagar to fix what I could for my S-Pass ID which still wasn’t released prior to the submission of my MA certificate. I got in early, got number L0004 and sat down. When it was my time to get processed, lady named Florence took my papers, breezed through it, and then told me I could not get my ID processed since I didn’t have my certification for my PhD. I told her the company logged in that I wasn’t through with it yet and so on, but she told me that the company needed to send the documents to MOM so they could process it again altogether. She told that she has told countless Filipinos (we were singled-out) kept putting things in their applications but could not produce certificates for them (I did, but mine was a certificate from the University Registrar of PLM stating the number of units I’ve taken for my doctorate), which included me.

I dashed toward the exit, and immediately after I made my first step on that flight of stairs, I started crying. No, I was sobbing. So hard was my sobbing that I had to take a breather by walking towards the parking lot at the back of the complex, and sat on the sidewalk. I tried calling the boss, but I guess she was busy prepping for the 10am talk at Holland Grove, so she did not answer. I called Ate Nanette afterwards (she is a Filipino, and is the senior programme director of the company I will officially work for starting March 1st). I told her the predicament, and she urged me to stop sobbing, literally. She told me that my problem had a solution, and that the company would back me up. Ate also told me she could talk to the boss about the pay, which was the most crucial issue resulting from the dilemma. I thanked Ate Nanette and put down the phone, making my way back to the MRT station. All the while I was thinking of how I would tell the wife, and how messed up I was.

I took some time off and sat at the flight of stairs near the tap-in at Tanjung Pagar MRT, and started to collect myself. Ate Nanette told me that the predicament could take just around a week or two to fix but that it was doable. She reminded me of how other people had it worse, and that some had to exit a couple of times and so on. My case, she highlighted, already had an IPA and WSPC. All I had to process was the ID. I collected myself, and went on my way.

I grabbed some coffee on my way to Buona Vista, which was the nearest MRT station to the school. When I got to the classroom where my boss was doing the talk with parents, she greeted me with this big smile. I came in, sat beside her on the teacher’s table, and I told her my predicament. She told me we could talk about the loopholes of the dilemma on Monday, but that in principle, I was still coming in March 1st.

The talk was jam-packed. There were around 30 to 40 parents in the classroom; some were couple while others had children with them. After the 40-minute presentation, questions were entertained, and we got quite a number of people who had queries. But it was after the presentation that was more interesting. Flanking me on both sides, with another Caucasian woman listening in, two women approached me, each battling for my attention, asking me about why the educational system here focused primarily only in science and math. That went on for quite a while, and ended up with me giving the three women my HP because they felt like it was interesting to have guys teach creative writing.

On the way back to the office, my boss told me that the company would submit what needs to be submitted to MOM, and that we could talk about my appointment papers this coming Monday after I come back from the rehearsals of the awards day I was co-hosting at the Woodlands this coming March 5th. She told me that all problems had solutions, one way or another, and if they had no solutions, they weren’t problems at all; instead, they were things we had to live with and accept.

On the way back, I bought a S$30 top-up card, only to realize that it did not add value to the card, instead merely gave me outgoing calls and SMS, no incoming calls/SMS. I was saddened even more, since it meant I had to but another card to top up my incoming calls, and then went home. I bought some bee hoon with tofu, and some soya milk on my way home.

***

The boss told me to go to this website which measured one’s strengths and weaknesses, she asked me to print a copy of the results. Here are my top 5 strengths, which the boss wants me to focus on:

1. Love of learning - You love learning new things, whether in a class or on your own. You have always loved school, reading, and museums-anywhere and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn.

2. Capacity to love and be loved - You value close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated. The people to whom you feel most close are the same people who feel most close to you.

3. Appreciation of beauty and excellence - You notice and appreciate beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in all domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.

4. Gratitude - You are aware of the good things that happen to you, and you never take them for granted. Your friends and family members know that you are a grateful person because you always take the time to express your thanks.

5. Humor and playfulness - You like to laugh and tease. Bringing smiles to other people is important to you. You try to see the light side of all situations.

***

Today, I realized that being blessed doesn’t mean you get it easy all the time. Being blessed is being surrounded by people who are nice enough to tell you the truth, and tap you on the back and say things’ll be alright eventually.

Still here. Coping. Hey.