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Monday, September 20, 2004
Velasco: The racketeers
By Diana Velasco
'Gone are the days when doing your work is enough. It is now the time of doing your work well, a culture of multi-professionalism where doing a great job opens opportunities for additional employment.'
ABOUT a few months ago, I got a surprising appeal from my parents: they want to have grandchildren. Being the eldest child, it is logically no surprise that they would ask that I be the one to bring a little person into this world. However, their request came across as a little odd since I am single.
Our conversation took a turn towards my professional life, which has been my main focus the past few years. While they were proud of my little achievements, as parents are inclined to be, they felt that it was high time I took the next logical step and "settled" into domestic bliss, regardless of the fact that Mr. Right just seems to be Mr. Missing right now. Which brings me to the main topic of this article.
The main reason why I am disinclined to pursuing a love life is the fact that I presently hold three jobs, and that is a matter of choice. The amazing fact that I recently realized is that a significant number of my peers; colleagues at work, fellow public servants, college and graduate school classmates; are in the same boat. Nowadays, it seems that having a job, any job, is not enough.
Some professionals who hold regular day jobs now find it absolutely necessary to augment their financial and intellectual pursuits for their personal fulfillment. So after work, on weekends or when on leave, they pursue additional and alternative employment.
A favorite part-time profession is teaching. Several of my friends are part-time professors. One of them rushes to the Ateneo from his NGO work three times a week to navigate the journey of his students into the wonderful world of sociology. Another, a high-ranking government executive, teaches at the masters program in Urban and Regional Planning at UP Mindanao from seven am to seven pm every Saturday. While teaching is generally a financially unrewarding pursuit, these educators do not think twice about the long hours preparing for and conducting their classes, dealing with genius or mediocrity from their students and going back to the four walls of a classroom. Having sat in at their classes, I take my hat off to these two brilliant and passionate teachers. It is heartwarming to note that there are people like them who seek and find fulfillment, not in monetary rewards but in sharing what they know.
Of course, I'm sure everyone has a funny anecdote about their times in school. One officemate recalls that he had a teacher who sold palitaw and puto every single time they had a class. I do not have hard feelings about his teacher's desire to increase her income. She is an entrepreneur and putting up a business, whether it is selling tocino in one's place of work or setting up a consultancy firm, is yet another popular and respectable way of racketeering. Aside from being your own boss, entrepreneurship creates new jobs and helps positively impact the economy. The people who signify their faith in the future of this country by investing their time and hard-earned money in small and micro-enterprises at least deserve some recognition for their efforts, especially in these trying times.
These trying times are the era of the multi-hyphenated professionals. There are
trainers-consultants-facilitators. There are food technologists-multi level marketers-event organizers. There are geologists-teachers-writers. There are domestic helpers-bar owners. In a world where the pace is accelerating exponentially, there is almost a mad scramble to attain stimulation and gratification without compromising one's principles. Glamorous corruption, long held in secret awe by most of us in decades past, just does not cut it anymore.
The best thing about this culture of racketeering is that it puts a premium on hard work. The Filipino's identification with Juan Tamad is slowly being replaced by an appreciation for the valiant efforts of people who give everything they can to every job they sign up for. Gone are the days when doing your work is enough. It is now the time of doing your work well, a culture of multi-professionalism where doing a great job opens opportunities for additional employment.
In these trying times, everyone has got to seize the day with everything he's got. And if the experience of my peers is evidence enough, it may mean juggling as many as three jobs at the same time. We have to do everything we can. It is only in doing so that we can deserve the respect we give ourselves.
(For your reactions or comments, you may email me at missabsinthe@yahoo.com)
(September 20, 2004 issue)
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