Good job

On moments that I am either very busy at work or I find my work too clerical, I find myself staring in to space and imagining what I would want to do for a day. Just for a day, what work would I want to do?

All of us are gifted with some kind of talent or skill or passion. Some of these talents, skills or passions may be in us for a lifetime and some might just be good for a day. Well, actually, I am not really sure about this opinion of mine. I am saying it on the context of what job I would want for a day because I may not last for more than 24 hours.

Let’s enumerate these good-for-24-hours-jobs (at least for myself):

1)Car washer – I enjoy watching the boys at the car wash when they clean my car. I find myself smiling because I like washing my car and I know I do it well also. Would I want to wash other people’s cars? I think I would but again I might just do it for a day.
2)Photocopy shop worker – I would want to photocopy, laminate, ring/wire bind books. I think I have the skill to do these efficiently. Again, I'm not sure if I would want to be exposed for more than 24 hours to those lights of photocopying machines.
3)Classroom bulletin board decorator – I was a homeroom adviser for about 5 years and I enjoy conceptualizing and decorating bulletin boards. I am waiting for any of my friends to ask me to decorate their bulletin boards. But again, after doing it, it’s up to the homeroom adviser to update her/his bulletin board.

As of now, these are the jobs I would want to do for a day.

Funny thing happened to me yesterday. I was buying some snacks our school would need for loot bags to be given during our outreach this morning. I was at cashier in the grocery when the lady at the cashier noticed that I lacked 1 pack of marshmallows (she knew I needed 50 packs). So I looked at the bagger and requested him if he could get 1 more pack of it inside the grocery. I even told him exactly where it is. As soon as he left, the lady at the cashier told me that the boy is not working at the grocery as an employee but he is working as part of his immersion for school. He is from Ateneo University and as part of their college life they should have some kind of immersion and he chose to be a bagger at Shoppersville. I did feel embarrassed because it seems that what I asked of him is not part of his immersion. Which led me to think about the immersion program of Ateneo. Are there limits to what comes with his ‘job’? Should he be given special treatment because he’s not being paid to do this? Good thing was, after only several questions in my head, the boy came back with the extra pack that I needed. He had a smile on his face which I think is a sign that he’s okay with what was asked of him to do. It may be a humbling experience for him. I am so sure, in the long run all that he's experiencing, including what I asked him to do, would benefit on how he views people in different jobs.

So, next time I have those staring moments, I should consider the benefits of having those so called good-for-24-hours-jobs. I think I may even add some more on the list. Maybe one of them may be good-for-a-lifetime. It might be another career change for me.