Sad Stories...

(senseless rants from nowhere)

Everybody has one… a dying family member, a tragic loss of property due to Ondoy or Pepeng, broken families, a kin in jail or whatever… Point is, probably everyone has a sad story to tell.

A friend of mine once said that it’s rather irritating when he goes to clubs and someone whom he has just met and who is apparently there to entertain him starts talking about “sad stories”. He figures that with the significant amount of expenses he’d incur for the night in order for him to enjoy himself and forget his own “sad story”, spending his hard-earned money and time listening to a poor soul spill their guts out is not exactly his idea of a good time. But of course, it would be different strokes for different folks… I mean, whatever rings your bell.

In the course of my employment in this company, I’ve had the privilege (?) of being manager, guidance counselor, psychologist, and judge to many people. And true enough, the number of “sad stories” I hear would be enough for a good number of screen plays for an indie film I’d like to venture on next year.

I’d like to believe however, that like my friend, some people should refrain from openly griping, simply because it becomes a negative element in the workplace. Like I always say, when my house becomes better looking than my office, then I’ll stay home. Same reasoning that if the people you work with makes you feel comfortable, then you would be looking forward to going to the work place. Much like my belief that a person who doesn’t drink has probably something to hide; an employee who doesn’t make his workplace as “homey” as possible probably has no real intention of staying on the job.

The reason I started this blog entry is because there are some people around me who wishes that they be understood with regards to their personal problems. Don’t get me wrong, I am the master of understanding. Hell, that’s why I meet a lot of opportunists on this world, but my experiences have already led me to the path of pragmatism. Most of the time, you are only as good as what you can offer or give.

The other day, one employee calls me begging that I help her brother who was in detention. I simply asked my employee what the charges were and when he said “robbery” I simply shrugged the issue of and told him that if it was a simple traffic altercation, then it would be no problem. Robbery!? Damn, that’s out of the question. I don’t even know his brother. If it was him, then I’d probably ask for details… then decide.

My relative once asked me if I knew the commanding officer of a certain unit, when I said yes, he asked if I could probably check on his brother-in-law’s case. I checked, and it was dismaying to know that it was illegal drug-related. I called him back and said that he should not have even thought of wasting my time.

There was this incident about one Korean who decided that he was too much in a rush to go thru a police check point so he squeezed his way out of the check line and was apprehended. He calls me and asks for help, I talked to the officer and he said, “Sir, we could have shot him for running away”. Agreed! They should have shot him.

You know that I’ve been burned by so many idiots who would ask for my help and later on I’d end up regretting having spent my time and reputation on their behalf. There are just a lot of people who don’t deserve help… they need rehabilitation.

So forgive me for this senseless rant… I just needed to gripe since I can’t gripe at work.