It's Nice to Be Happy...Sha La La La

I guess it's true: when one segment of your life is going well, another segment decides to turn crappy. It was such a miserable week.

Because of union laws, I needed to go through the whole application process to make my position permanent. "It is just formality." Fine. You gotta do what you gotta do afterall. Last week, I had my interview. It went well and the administrative skills test afterwards was not even a problem (Who knew my typing speed is 70 wpm?! LoL). I thought I had everything under control. By the end of the day, my boss told me that there was going to be a second interview because there were three top candidates. Excuse me?! What?! Fine, let me do the second interview.

The second interview was this past Thursday. Instead of three candidates, it was just myself and this other man. Fine. I went first. No problems at all. It was a comfortable setting with four women whom I've been working with or spoken with before. I left to go back to the office afterwards while the other man was interviewed. An hour later, Co-worker L called and asked me to give the phone to Snoopy. After taking the call, she said she needed to meet them at Starbucks. Clearly, I was the topic of the conversation. I knew something was definitely up and I have a feeling what it was about. Blame it on PMS, but I wanted to cry my eyes out when I was all alone in the office.

They came back in the office half an hour later and my boss asked me to come into her office. I got the job, but with caveats:

"It was a tough decision." Tough decision?! Why would it be a tough decision when I've already spent 4.5 months with you guys and you've seen my work ethic?!

"The other candidate was just more excited. He was willing to see a project from beginning to end." What?! So, I'm more Kwame than Bill (Think The Apprentice here). Sue me for being prim and proper all the time. After 4.5 months, you're going to tell me that I'm not willing to see a project from beginning to end?! I'm the one who does all the dirty work in the office! I stuff envelopes until my hands have become the grossest things in the world (Even I wouldn't hold hands with myself nowadays). I'm the one who overhauled the contacts list database that no one wanted to do! I've created all the in-house marketing collateral! Update this, call this, upload this, proofread this, edit this...I've done everything you've all asked me to do! And yet, you don't call these finishing a project from beginning to end?!

My thoughts:

• I've proven my worth in the last 4.5 months. I can't believe that you were willing to take a chance on a guy based on his words rather than my actions.


• I hate disloyalty. If you ended up picking the other candidate, I would've been unemployed...again. If I was a slacker, if I didn't perform well, fine, let me go. But the fact is, I was busting my ass eventhough I was getting paid way less than I deserved.


• I've been underestimated. I hate it.

Is the real world really like this? I felt so horrible that I even contemplated about going back to school (The AA graphic design degree is still calling me, folks). I felt so horrible that I wanted to buy a plane ticket to Manila eventhough I promised I wouldn't do such a thing for seven more months. I felt so horrible that I thought it's better to be unemployed than be around people who don't really think highly of me.

*SIGH. Thanks to Kuya Greg and Pen for the counseling. On a light-hearted note, so if work has turned really crappy, which segment of my life should I expect to turn out really well soon? >=P