Yesterday was the last day of classes and that means the beginning of the Christmas vacation that we teachers and students get every year. And that also means that I would be finally getting some break from the hectic schedule I have had in the past weeks and that’s a very nice and refreshing idea.
Not that I am complaining. I love my work. I reckon educators are among the noblest in occupation. And besides, I had always prided myself for almost always wanting to have work at hand and have my hands full and do abhor to be doing nothing and getting paid for doing nothing, in contrast to NBA stars, to be doing what they do best and still be getting paid very handsomely for it. We all desire to be like that, don’t we all?
But just to sit around and getting paid for being that is just not my style. Although I have a feeling that it is just the style of some if not many people in our midst.
My work motto was “I work best under pressure”. Although I must admit that it’s not an original motto of mine. When I was an editor in chief of a college publication back in my college days, I once had found myself interviewing this lanky and fair bespectacled lad who had applied for a position in the school publication. I asked him that since he was an accounting major as I am, and that I know how hard it is to be one, could he handle more work as a news reporter? He had said so gallantly and so confidently, like an unbending soldier, that indeed he would be able to handle that and that if he could describe himself, he had said that “he works best under pressure”.
I was awed of course by his answer and plus the way he spoke it in flowing English, I was ultimately impressed. So in short he was a shoo-in.
I kept thinking about that motto, or principle, or dogma or whatever that kind of thing is termed as. I even had some feeling of envy on why I didn’t thought about that for myself as it came to me as an original idea. I thought a little that he was a humbug (His name by the way is Mr. Jason Teng and he is a CPA now). What if I put him in a pressure cooker, could he work the finest? Now that’s just kidding on my part.
But I hope he won’t mind if I’d be using it to describe my work attitude. In fact I had already used it once or twice before just to impress somebody.
But hey, with all the pressure from work I had most recently, I’d be careful in declaring that motto. So I guess I have to say, “I work best even without pressure”. Now that sounds better.
We all say things in interviews that aren't necessarily true.... or are just slightly exaggerated.
Comment by Wil — December 21, 2008 @ 1:12 am
I agree MT. "I work best even without pressure" sounds better to me:)
Comment by joanne — December 21, 2008 @ 7:13 am
Some people do work best under pressure but in my case, as I age (ouch!), I have made some adjustments to that attitude so as to reduce the stress on myself. It's not really good for our health in the long run.
Didn't realize until today that you and I share the same major.
Comment by Panaderos — December 22, 2008 @ 5:07 am
To Wil: I say I am guilty of that most often but you know, I just make some slight exaggeration just to impress some people and I think that's just reasonable.
Comment by Major Tom — December 22, 2008 @ 8:54 am
To Joanne: That make sense entirely, pressure really makes things much more difficult although it's something we can't escape.
Comment by Major Tom — December 22, 2008 @ 9:13 am
To Panaderos: I often read actually how stress can cause alot of illness especially heart diseases and the mental kind; now that makes me a little worried. I bet i've got to readjust my work habits in a huge way and do more exercises.
Yup, I was an accounting major in college, laboring on worksheets after worksheets...
Comment by Major Tom — December 22, 2008 @ 5:40 pm
hehe.. I work best even without pressure... I like that
Well, I have worked in extreme pressure situations and it is not fun when the buck stops right at you, ugh
One thing I've learned from a stress management seminar is " take your work seriously but its problems lightly" . I think most of us make the mistake of living and breathing with the problem when we should not. I'm sure many will say hogwash, but frankly, not all problems are do or die so why should we behave like there's no tomorrow? Nice post Major Tom
Comment by bw — December 22, 2008 @ 11:46 pm
I would rather work under pressure than be jobless
! Especially now with its global crisis and retrenchment going on, closing companies and vice versa. Now, even a SAHM like me find it complex about the soaring of oil prices, declination of production, and what will the the worst impact of the global financial crisis, now that is a real pressure to everyone 
!! Let's just hope we will surpass this soon !!
Comment by haze — December 23, 2008 @ 7:48 am
To BW: Thanks for the compliments bro. Maybe I need some stress management seminar like the one you had. But I wonder why they don't have that kind here...
Comment by Major Tom — December 24, 2008 @ 12:20 am
To Haze: Now that's very true. I can't being jobless from now on even if I was for several years. It just ain't feel right.
Comment by Major Tom — December 24, 2008 @ 12:21 am