Random thoughts, rainy day.

I was at a coffee shop, killing time before I go up for a doctor’s appointment when I overheard two people talking with much passion from the other table.

“…Then I told my boss in Macau to transfer me and never assign me again in that place or else I might kill the chef." The guy said in Tagalog. "He doesn’t like Pinoys.” He added with conviction.

I don’t listen to other people’s conversations, mind you. It’s just that the way he spoke, overset with so much emotion he might as well be speaking to everyone in the coffee shop.
In fairness to him, I don’t even know the whole of the story but from an observation of someone who’s practically living in two countries right now, he reminded me so much of the conclusion that I came up with sometime ago.

We Pinoys are an emotional lot. It’s a given, yes. It’s a good thing in many aspects such as being close with our families, wading through our issues more effectively, etc. but let me rephrase that: We Pinoys are emotional in the workplace especially overseas, IMHO.

It may be a bit of a contradiction to say we are emotional since we are also a passive-aggressive lot. Saying what we really feel and what we really want may seem a bit confrontational for us. This observation came to me while listening to my sisters’ and mom’s experiences in the US workplace. Although we don’t adhere to the Americans’ direct way of saying things, being frank and straightforward, we take criticisms too personally sometimes too hasty to conclude that its because they (foreigners) don’t like us (Filipinos). There’s not a word “Tampo” for nothing.

I may be making a hasty generalization, saying these things. After all, being emotional more than it being cultural also depends on the person’s character and personality.
It just bothers me that some Filipinos would think they are not liked in the workplace because of their race when, really sometimes (if not oftentimes) its just about the quality of our work per se.

This mentality just proves our misplaced notion of pride. We are sometimes too defensive for our own good. But when you think about it really, it only shows a lack of self-esteem not just a person but also as a Filipino. How we interpret other people’s notion about us should be based on our confidence with the quality of our work rather than our insecurity about our being different.
Only then we can assess our performance through that level of confidence. If you are not confident enough, then maybe you need to amp up your game.

Our auditing of ourselves should mainly (if not solely) depend on our ability and our performance as well as our outlook on life. I wouldn’t say race doesn’t count, because I admit, it would always have a role of influence to what extent depends on the situation. But then, it’s not exclusive to our race; after all it’s the just way of the world.

First and foremost, do what you have to do. Sometimes, it’s just all in a day’s work.
Sometimes, really it’s just all about work.