Friday, October 23, 2009

3 micro posts

"i'm a rather hard person to convince but, i think i just got sold by what you said right now." that's what one of the owners of the company i was applying for said when i told them i was not confident on my salesmanship. they asked me if the ridiculously expensive furniture pieces i was to sell (if they hired me) was worth the price they were charging. i bluntly said no, much to their amazement i guess. i later explained that for some articles, it's not really just the pieces that you pay for but also the process that went behind it, as well as the image it projects. you actually buy the image more than the piece itself. it was an honest answer. it was an answer i never thought i would give since i had always had this idea that being blunt during a job interview was practically commiting suicide. i guess, there will always be instances like this that will prove that not all you believe may turn out to be the only way things can be done.

dad's word of wisdom suddenly came into mind. "if you can't get in thru the front door. try the back." somehow... i cannot help but think of a double meaning for this.

* * * * *

"good morning andrew!" andrew is my favorite server at my favorite resto. i sincerely doubt he knows my name but i'm sure he, and maybe the rest of the staff at that restaurant, already know my face. ever since coming back from dubai and having worked in the service industry, i had started calling people who serve others by their names. not only does it get their attention faster, but for me, it's a way of offering respect for the job that they do. though i am pretty sure there's nothing derogatory with using "boss" or "kuya" or "miss", i just feel that the extra level of familiarity, coupled with a smile is so much better. it diffuses that barrier. frankly, i'm actually more comfortable knowing my server is comfortable with me. i certainly would not mind receiving smiles and being called by my name myself. so far, i have not received any untoward reaction to my new habit. on the contrary, i get a lot more perks by doing it i think.

* * * * *

when i was younger, back in school, when you'd ask ppl who i was, they'd most probably say "ah, jamie? he's the artistic one. he loves to draw." indeed, until today, those people still know me in that sense. if you would bump into the people i went to college with though, they'd most probaly say "si jamie? yun nerd. pwedeng maging teacher!". again, those people till today see me still in that light. they're probably wondering now why i am not in med school or in the states earning in dollars (and spending in pesos, cheap that i am). then there are the people i went to design school with. artistic skill wasn't just the measure we were gauged upon, but rather, innovation as well as O.C.-ness. i was called "bibo" by a good friend back then, a term until now i still do not understand. then comes the people i met after design school. i wonder what impression i have on them?

4 comments:

wanderingcommuter said...

hindi ko magets yung front door, back door. text me sa akin... so naive! hahaha!

same here, i always try to get and call them by their name. its one of the things my dad thought as always be friendly with food servers for you'll never know what they're going to put in your food if you don't.

we actually have the same story. when i entered law school, i met two classmates from elementary who asked me, insert my long first name, ano ginagawa mo dito? di ba nag dradrawing ka lang dati?

so i know what you feel on this one.

The Green Man said...

back door is usually for the "sneekers"

I like calling people by their first name too... tama ka service is better and food taste better. hahaha

I met you after school. and like you. i like talking to you. Although you're always busy :-D

Hugs, hugs

Anonymous said...

bibo din tawag sa akin ng mga officemates ko. LOL.

citybuoy said...

"somehow... i cannot help but think of a double meaning for this."

AKO DIN!!! haha akala ko malisyoso lang talaga ako. haha

"on the contrary, i get a lot more perks by doing it i think."

i went out with someone who does that. we ended up getting really good service. i think it helps. tama ka, it shows respect.

"i wonder what impression i have on them?"

scary thought: all of them in one room. tipong 75th birthday party. i used to have nightmares about that. iba ibang versions of you ang nakilala nila. how will they put the pieces together?