I survived the first week at work!
I can’t exactly say I miss being in class, but what I’m truly missing from school is the abundance of social interaction. My colleagues are not hard to get along with, in fact they’re very fun people to work with. It’s probably the new environment that I’m not accustomed to yet and it usually takes me a while to warm up to people. While it’s nice to listening to people’s conversations, it’d always be better if you could be part of them.
The office is where I spend most of my waking hours these days. Home is now just a place where I return to to have a hot shower and quick snooze. Sometimes I don’t even get to see my family around on weekdays because they are either still sleeping when I leave for work or not home yet when I turn in for the night. And this is how a typical day is like for a working class Singaporean.
It’s sad that this is a path that many have and will travel. But this is the reality. Truly 9-to-5 jobs are few and far between (unless the job doesn’t pay very well or you’re pretty high up the corporate ladder). Although I officially work from 9 to 6, I’ve seen for myself how my colleagues put in overtime almost everyday. While I usually leave the office at 7, they would, more likely than not, be eating takeaways at their desks preparing for the long night.
I don’t know how it’s like at other places, but I have a feeling that this is generally true everywhere. Humans are social creatures and we need to talk and interact with others frequently – not only with our colleagues at work but our friends and more importantly, family. I remember once reading a quote that goes something along these lines:
We work hard all our lives to pay for a home that we don’t stay much in, a car mortgage we spend a major share of our paycheck on, and live a life that we don’t get to enjoy much.
Life is about choices. We don’t have to work overtime everyday. If work can wait, then leave it to another day. Go home and spend a little time with your family too.
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