A farm, a zoo, and TELUS

Yesterday, when jeep drivers and operators launched a nationwide strike, in protest against the refusal of Metro Manila mayors to initiate a single ticketing system, TELUS had this bright idea of offering shuttle service to us employees. Not that I would need it, since I only live 10 minutes away from our office, but when you know your company cares about you, it's not such a bad feeling at all.

Still, I hate to report that good employers can sometimes be bad at metaphors, most especially at times when a metaphor is hardly called for; the service shuttles all had signages plastered at their sides. They read: "TELUS Noah's Ark." TELUS commercials are ingenious, but animal analogy can only go as far.



I get the idea that the signage originally signified the company's willingness to help its flock. But I can't help thinking about the fact that Noah saved the animals so that after the Flood, they could procreate and replenish the earth with life again. From there, you could just as easily jump from comparing TELUS with a zoo to comparing TELUS with a farm. Mooooooooo!

And I am not sure but isn't there something replusive about being inside a van with a tarp shouting "Noah's Ark"?

Relearning surgery, knife-tricks

After many months, I was able to write a sudden short story, though by no means would I say it's well written. Well sometimes, when it's such a long time you have handled a knife, you tend forget the right grip.

I would like to believe that as with anything, surgery can be relearned. For the three faithful readers of this famous blog, I post my literary attempts at another blog:

http://www.trickswithaknife.blogspot.com/.

Contemplathings VIII

1. "falling right through the cracks"
2. nicotine
3. Abby
4. fraternity hazings
5. Larissa Mae Suarez, the next Philippine Collegian editor-in-chief
6. Baguio
7. Rodrigo Santoro and Laura Linney in Love Actually

Burgeois ideas galore

I look back at my latest Contemplathings list and I am taken aback at how much burgeois I have managed to become. Then again, my surprise might just be a pretension. Does a call center agent who earns a figure well above the minimum wage have any chance of resisting the temptations of consumerism? Yes, and Jude Law is my boyfriend.

My former co-worker at VXI suggests that I chant a mantra everytime I get guilty when I purchase a four-digit-priced item. The mantra: "Bakit? Nagtatrabaho naman ako a!" Julie tells me it is important that I don't forget the exclamation point. Perfect.

Now that I remember this, let me get back to work and get richer. 

Contemplathings VII

1. my first Telus pay!
2. N70 music edition
3. Starbucks planner
4. Meredith Brooks
5. ukay-ukay
6. Damien Rice
7. training
8. VXI back pay
9. Philo argumentation and debate class
10. swollen gums