Marriage

In areas other than Metro Manila or big cities in the country, getting married is a big deal. It’s like when you reach a particular age, you are expected to get married. And when you hit 30, being single is tantamount to being undesirable or being gay. That was the perspective years ago. And I think, it still is.

In big cities like Manila, where the best universities and big companies are located, some people have different outlook, I think. Marriage is not a priority. Career is higher on everyone’s list. Accumulation of wealth in the form of bank accounts, franchises, investments, and others, is a priority over marriage. But not for Boomers and Gen-X; marriage is still a priority.

Some people get married. They dream of starting their own families. When the official leave they filed come to an end, they go back to work. Then, each day they go to work, the sweetness at the beginning of their married life slowly fades away. Adding to the burden are office works completed and submitted while sitting at the living room or bedroom. Intimate moments start to become less and less frequent. When they reach old age and a husband or wife dies, the other begins to realize that 10 hours of his or her everyday life were spent in the office, maybe seven (7) hours for sleep, two (2) hours for travelling or transferring from one place to another, and five (5) hours shared for all other activities and spending quality time with his/her other half.

So, did we get married just to spend five (5) hours with our husband/wife? What was our purpose then? Or what is our objective in trying to get married? Did we get married just for the sake of it? Are we going to do it just because everyone is doing it?

A Week To Go

Am I excited?

Am I bored?

Is the bucket of options already drained leading me to my last resort of getting a job in a call center?

Yes… My answer to the three questions is yes. I am excited for my new job as an agent. I am bored that fate finally gave me the hit to its voracious fangs. And I think the options were already drained during the course of my five-month hiatus from the professional world.

Getting a bigger salary would mean a lot. But it all goes down to your choice of staying alive in the chaotic food chain branded as Philippine-style. It’s either you get a low-paying job and stick to your principle of working within the realm of your degree or have a high-paying work and move up to a higher caste level. But for me, I really do not have to choose. I have been working since mid-2004, with of course, patches of work experience when I was still a student. So this means that I stayed faithful to my degree for the last three years. With my new job, I just want to familiarise myself with the trade. Talk about curiousity.

I could bring out my options next year: whether to leave or continue as an agent. And if I stay, I will render the rest of the path of my career, and live a peaceful life. If I leave, then… I’ll cross the bridge when I get there.

With that, I still have a week to enjoy the day life before I turn and accept all the responsibilities of being an Agent Render.