sweat shop

I was asked today to sign my name to a memo regarding a new policy that dictated mandatory office hours and punitive penalties for tardiness, regardless of how much overtime is worked (i.e., no overtime pay). We are in the professional services industry which focuses on client service. This usually requires untraditional work hours in order to be responsive to clients. 

However, there are a number of individuals who have not been professional in their work ethic. Because of the passive-aggressive culture of the office, rather than addressing the matter with the specific individuals who abuse the system, leadership has decided to penalize everyone by putting more policies in place. Those with poor work ethics will always find a way to continue their behavior regardless of what policies are executed.

The HR manager who has been supporting me in expanding my team questioned me on one of the individuals I was looking to hire. She believed that the individual was too assertive and aggressive and would be hard to control. Those traits were the exact reason why I wanted to hire her. A successful consulting practice would usually include some combination of aggressive, creative, 'outside of the box'  individuals. She agreed but retorted that the individual would never survive in the company as leadership want people who can be controlled. She laughed when I said that was why I struggle everyday.

My response to the HR director regarding the memo was that if he wanted me to mandate a time to come into the office or penalize staff, then I should also mandate a time to leave or give benefits to staff. Most countries call for overtime pay for sweat shops. People tend to behave based on how they are treated - I am here to help develop professionals. If leadership wanted to issue this policy, then the force(s) behind it should own up to it rather than hide behind and have others do their handiwork. Passive-aggressive coupled with a micro-managing culture is a recipe for disaster for my INTP personality.

pda psa

The world evolves due to those innovators who constantly challenges the status quo. The Population and Community Development Association (PDA)  opened the C&C restaurant to not only generate income to fund its activities but also promote better understanding and acceptance of family planning in Thailand. The concept is simple - condoms should be as commonplace as cabbages. The restaurant is full of fun and inventive ways to promote safe sex, including ingenious outfits made with colorful condoms from all over the world.

 Surprisingly, it was one of the better dining experiences of local Thai fare!

swing high

As we were waiting for our long tailboat at Taling Chan, I found myself so enthralled by this one girl. She was the only girl with a bunch of other boys who were just hanging out on the side of the canal. She was perhaps a young teen, with wild unkempt hair. She eventually broke apart from them and started swimming over to the middle where a rope hung from a small bridge that quite honestly, I did not notice until she started to climb it. 

The water is a deep shade of sewer green. People who live along the kilometers of these streams and canals use the water to bathe, wash clothes and dishes, wash their pets, urinate, defecate and catch fish for food. With no trepidations, she repeatedly scurried up that rope, swung herself up in the air and let go...splash! My friend saw what grabbed my attention for a good 15 minutes, and remarked 'ignorance is bliss'.

I am pretty sure that the folks that live around the canals are fully aware of the vast uses of the water, including the girl. But with knowledge, there is power, and the power to decide that despite what others may think about your choices, the choice to enjoy such moments is liberating in itself. I know nothing about her and what hardships she may have to endure, but from where I sat across the canal, she seemed to have captured the simple life for a moment in time.

truth or dare

Today I received a number of messages from caring friends and family. I ignored all of them. While I appreciated the thoughts, I just wanted to forget and pretend it was like any other Sunday. I knew the day was coming up, and felt a bit torn by not being in NYC for the significant anniversary and for not being able to see the completion of the memorials after watching the big hole in the ground for years from our offices.

There were significant delays in the rebuilding of the trade centers and the memorials. Too many cooks in the kitchen with the same goal, too focused on their own agendas without listening to others or the voices of those they were trying so hard to remember. NYC changed in the aftermath. People were more tolerant, patient and helpful, which was witnessed when we had the blackout of 2003.

Whether the Holocaust or 9/11, such significant events would be wasted and the lives lost would have been for naught if we, as a global society, did not learn from it. There are a lot of unanswered questions. I always thought that it was odd that if the hijackers did such copious research that they were not aware that New Yorkers do not typically get into work until after 9 am. It is time that we dare to get to the truth.

another one bites the dust

My very first friend in my adopted birth country is relocating today with her family to Bangkok. Similar to college, it is natural to befriend coworkers, especially those who are going through similar experiences.  She not only took me under her wing and introduced me to various people but also incorporated me into her family. The connection, though, was not superficial as just coworker friends. She was in a different function but since I sat in the same area due to lack of space, her team started calling us sisters.

We have different lives and rarely hung out with each other outside of work once I started expanding my social network and since she had a son to go home to. Many of the friends whom she introduced me to have come and gone since then as I start weeding out those that are truly friends vs. acquaintances. But she has been consistent - a consistent friend who may not agree with everything I do but she tries to understand me, not judge me and give advice based on my best interest.

A few months ago, another expat had told me that she stopped making friends as the expat community is a revolving door, and it was difficult to always see people come in and out of one's life. Now that I have been here for awhile, I will have to respectfully disagree - perhaps her friendships were very superficial (and as it turns out, she was one of those I weeded out because of all the drama, jealousy and passive aggressive behavior).

So while I will miss having her constantly around, I also know that friends are always friends despite the distance. She has made the right decision for her and her family to start a new chapter in their lives.

Update: With our various business and personal trips, we have been able to see each other at least monthly, and have used skype, facetime, whatsapp, and viber to keep in touch daily. Her ex-secretary saw me recently and remarked that I look like I've gained some weight because my 'sister' has left. Upon further clarification, it was because my 'sister' was not here to eat part of my food. I found that comical - sometimes the logic here kills me.