Work Ethic 101

We received an open letter from one of the managers today asking for volunteers on Saturday.  We’re moving back to The Fort (Yipee! ).  What struck me most was this part of the letter:

We’ve already convened the managers this morning to discuss it. Unfortunately, most of them believe that no one will volunteer for Saturday. They’re saying that the current mentality is “what is in it for me?”, or “do I get paid for it?”.

Pwede ba?!  If at the late stage of these people’s careers and they haven’t developed sound work ethics, then the Firm hired the wrong people.  I gladly replied to this message.  I said:

I can squeeze in a saturday for that. BTW, I honestly don’t believe that it’s the general mentality.  Maybe the managers need to spend more time with their people if they assume such.

Take that, audacious management!

The Wealth Gap

Reading one of the Coconuter’s recent entries, this got me thinking:

“…the flow of money is out of balance today. Just as the trash in the Philippines is no where near of becoming fully recycled as the majority remain littered on the streets and in waterways, the same goes for the Philippine Peso. The wide wealth gap remains as money is stuck in a financial bottleneck with the rich few, unable to channel enough money to the impoverished majority of the Filipino population.”

There are days when I wonder how people like Chuvaness and Bryanboy exist here in our country.  The money they spend on a bag would amount to a common Filipino’s annual salary.  Sometimes I wonder if the Philippines is indeed separated between the Rich and the Poor, with a very deep chasm in between.  If that’s the case then which side am I in?  

After the numerous highs and lows of my life, in most aspects, I’m afraid to answer.
 

One Small Detail

My brother and I found ourselves coaching a grade school girl in her singing the other day.  She was going to compete in a singing contest the next day.  By the end of the 2 hour session, she had proper breathing, had good voice quality and could render the song very well.  The mother was very grateful after the session.  Admittedly, I was also excited to hear how she did.  I was quite sure that she would win, or at least bag a prize.

Today I asked my brother how the girl did in yesterday’s competition.  He said she didn’t win.  Seeing that I was a bit dumbfounded, he continued to explain that it must have been because of the overall impact:  while everyone else was wearing Filipiniana (it was a Linggo ng Wika singing contest), the girl competed wearing a pink tube top.  Details, details…

There goes one of my rare stints as a voice coach.