Walang Kasing Kupad

Suko na ko sa inefficiency ng postal service ng Pilipinas. Grabe! Mag-da-dalawang buwan na hindi pa rin dumarating yung pinadala kong mga papeles para sa visa application ng mga magulang ko.

Hindi lang ngayon nangyari to. Two years ago, nagpadala din ako ng mga papeles at inabot ng ilang buwan bago natanggap yung mga dokumento. Dahil sa bagal, nagpadala na lang uli ako sa kaibigan ko na umuwi noon sa Pilipinas.

Hindi na "snail mail" ang maitatawag sa postal service ng Pilipinas, "sloth mail" na and with all due respect to the animal which I'm sure will detest being compared to the inept people of the Philippine post office.

"Do you have to go to school for that?"

When I stayed over at my baby's child care centre for an orientation a couple of weeks ago, the toddlers in the room approached me with a book in their tiny hands. I took it that they wanted me to read to them, so I did. Seeing how I became a baby magnet, I kidded one of the carers that I should consider a career change. She smiled at me and asked, "What do you do?"

"I'm a librarian." I said.

"Do you have to go to school for that?"

I gave her a big smile and answered yes.

"How long did you go to school for?"

To impress her, I said I spent four years studying librarianship although I didn't tell her I took it in the Philippines. Cheeky me.

"What sort of stuff do you study?"

Now that was a tough one and I had to look at the ceiling to search for answers that she would be able to relate to. Finally I said, "Um, a bit of computers, information management and organization, those kind of stuff."

Nodding her head in understanding, she asked where I worked. I replied, "I work in a TAFE institute in the city."

She paused for a bit and as if finally figuring out my workplace, blurted out, "Ow, so you work in a library inside a TAFE."

Oh yes, in this age of the internet and self-checkout counters, we librarians still need to stand and be recognized for what we do besides shelving and assisting at the checkout counters.

Back to Work Bloopers

This is the second week since I went back to work last August 4 from a year long maternity leave. And I must say that having spent an entire year simply taking care of the bub and my two older sons doing mostly domestic work has definitely affected that part of my brain that has to do with being a librarian and a cataloguer at that.

Thank goodness I have very understanding colleagues who were ready to help me.

Blooper no. 1: I needed to call my husband who was at work and I simply stared at the phone trying to remember how to place an outside call. Completely clueless, I decided to seek help and pulled aside a workmate. Whispering in her ear, "I've got a silly question. How do I place an outside call?" And she let out this howl of laughter that filled the room. Oh yeah, that was surely funny.

Blooper no. 2: I was manning the circulation desk and a student approached me to ask for change for her $5 bill. I said sure and walked confidently to the cash register. Thinking I still knew how to do it, I punched some keys but the till just kept emitting those annoying sounds which meant I was doing it all wrong. So I asked to be rescued.

Blooper no. 3: I forgot to demagnetize a book a student borrowed so the alarm went off much to my embarassment. And I was sharing the shift with my boss! Double whammy!

Blooper no. 4: At the end of the day, when I was in a hurry to go home and afraid to miss the train, I got on the wrong platform. Bugger!

I'm telling you, I would have been better off starting a new job than re-relearning my old one.