Personality At Work

I am an INTJ. I knew that from a personality test I took years ago.

credits to this blog for the very fitting image

This is part of the profile of an INTJ according to Wikipedia: "They tend to be pragmatic and logical individuals, often with an individualistic bent and a low tolerance for spin or rampant emotionalism. They are also commonly not susceptible to catchphrases and commonly do not recognize authority based on tradition, rank or title."

So despite having this extremely boring, repetitive workload mixed with a crowd of arrogant know-it-alls who think they're naturally some kind of superior species; I manage. I don't care how much higher they are at the ranks, 'cause it doesn't mean they're better than anybody else. No one gets any right to raise his/her voice at me just because I was able to finish something in a shorter time frame than what was expected. It's how I work, and I get paid well for that speed. This job is boring enough that I don't have to linger too much on a stupid questionnaire.

Also, according to the article: "They generally withhold strong emotion and do not like to waste time, as they see it, with what they consider irrational social rituals. This, however, may cause non-INTJs to perceive them as distant and reserved."

So no one should expect me to take interest in that unnecessary activity of chismisan, that even gets as far as the whole world knowing how much I got on my last paycheck. Thank you for the good remarks, but there's a reason why payslips are printed in those peek-proof sheets. That reason is called confidentiality.

Lastly: "Hallmark features of the INTJ personality type include independence of thought, strong individualism, creativity, and a desire for efficiency. People with this personality type work best given large amounts of autonomy and creative freedom.... They tend to be acutely aware of their knowledge and abilities, as well as their limitations and what they don't know."

So if I want to be a smart ass, I WILL be a smart ass.


I recommend the articles on the 16 Myers-Briggs personality types for a fun read at work where other reading materials are prohibited.

Now That's Familiar

Help me remember how it feels to hold a pipette and dispense 10 millilitres of acid into that tiny 50-ml beaker. I miss that smoke and the smell that makes you cough when it mixes with water. I'm so bored that I'd rather digest sixty samples of fecal matter inside the fume hood and risk burning myself than stare endlessly and pointlessly into that computer screen at work.

I was sitting there, rubbing my shoes against the carpet, wrinkling my forehead in frustration and typing away in this stupid computer that had been triggering my headaches. I've been in this place for just a short while but I'm starting to feel the ceiling going down on me and the glare of the LCD slowly eating me alive.

But then just when I thought I was about to drop dead inside that pit of dumb boredom, I heard something familiar. My last name.

One of the female bosses was talking to a subordinate, "I'm looking for Ofilas." There could only be two reasons for a boss to ask for me: either I did something great or I did something really wrong. I continued typing in my computer and pretended to be busy until the boss found me.

"Can I take a look at your ID?" she said in the usual boss-like tone. I showed her the tiny card and waited for a reaction. She smiled. "Look at my ID." she said again.

Again, something familiar hit me. My last name. Though her ID was the typical damaged, overused, virtually washed out card that all the bosses have, I was positive about what I read. Ofilas. Same exact spelling. "Maybe we have the same father!" she joked, as all heads turned toward us. Still recovering from the shock, I asked "Where are you from?" in a tone that almost sounded like I was actually asking if she was for real. She held that same gaze as I had and answered, "Ilocos, of course. Where else? All the Ofilases come from that place."

Of course I knew that. There's no any other region in this country that could claim that clan name. Then she babbled about how rare it is to find a namesake and if she did, she was sure to be related to that person. Well, I always knew another Ofilas existed in that office ever since one of the lower supervisors mentioned her to me. I was too lazy to make a search effort, and besides, the number of people working there made finding a specific person a daunting task. But apparently, she is a boss- which meant power- which meant access to certain lists and certain data, thus The Meeting.

Anyway, due to loads of boss work she had to do and the sick mediocre routine that I still have two hours to endure... we parted ways as she promised to have a longer talk with me next time.

Funny, because I commented on Jung's post about namesakes, saying that I will not be pursuing the search for that mysterious girl anymore. I said I'd leave it to the forces of nature. And behold the forces doing their job. Though actually, it was the magic of employee database that brought us together.

Maybe having a boss with my last name would make that place a little less boring.

The Name Curse

I'm doing this because I was tagged by Jewel. Instructions: Share the different names that different people call you.

My full name is a standard example of a kid born in the 80s, with two American-inspired given names and a Kastila surname. As a child, I got to be a little cooler than the kids with short names. However, it's a pain to learn it all quickly in writing... and as I got older, people made different, sometimes appalling, versions of my name. So let's begin the list.

Anna
Common, generic and easy to pronounce (thank god, I don't get called like Jewel's "jeh-wel"). And it's one of the coolest names in the world. Why? Because it's a palindrome. Shallow, I know. Some variations:

     Anna O - Used by D'can buddies to distinguish me from the other numerous Annas.
    Sister Anna - Exclusively Raymond's idea. It strangely originated from this frat-soro handshake thing we had.

Anne
This has been the official nickname so far. Only family and very close friends get to call me such. Besides, you'll hate me if let you use that name when texting me, etc. since I'm being obsessive-compulsive about it: it has to be spelled with a double N and an E. Only my brother can do without the E.

Ann-ann
I guess only your mom can call you a name that sounds like a fungus and get away with it. Nuff said.

Therese
I remembered the only ones who could pronounce this correctly, apart from the familair crowd, were Ms Divina and Ms Guiao from D'can. In college, Chris (I mean, Sir Chris) called me my full given name in the most sosyal way I've ever heard. Some variations:

     Trez! - Courtesy of my dad. And it's always with the exclamation mark.
     Teres - That comes from the people who don't know the actual pronunciation of my name. And recently, I discovered even British people tend to say it that way.
     Theresa (teresa or tereeza) - I don't really blame you if you forget about the little E in the end but I'm slightly bothered by this. Well, my mother purposely gave me my name because she thought "Theresa" would be too common.

Ofilas
Most of my brother's old classmates called by my surname. It's fine because it's no hassle and you can apply it to both of us siblings. It sounds impersonal but we love our surname so we don't mind. Just please pronounce it properly and NOT Ofelas, Ofilia, Ofelia, Ofilias or anything else that I haven't and wouldn't want to hear.

Lai
Only three people in the world call me this nickname and because those three people in the world know the full history behind it. LOL

Valedictorian
I heard this first from Nanay, a family friend in the US, and recently it has become a popular slight insult (and that's from those who DON'T even know me, surprisingly). I guess labels really won't go away that easily.

So I'd prefer you call me the way you've always called me. If you're my friend, I guess I'll forgive you butchering my name anyway. :)

What's on your list, Annie-chan, Verna, Ate Kel, Mame? The curse is passed. *sigh*

Insanity

I don't know 'cause I'm not a doctor, but isn't it when they diagnose you for mental disorder they ask if you've felt or experienced anything unusual? They'd backtrack towards events in your life or previous actions that might prove your sanity or otherwise.

Okay, so let's backtrack...


*** AFTER OVERTIME***
After another crazy day at work without sleep, I accompanied my mom to the hospital for some routine lab tests; then we went grocery shopping. I usually don't stare at other people but a certain girl caught my attention. She was confidently walking with her boyfriend inside the air-conditioned mall while wearing a) an orange bra, b) overlaid with a sheer white blouse, c) skinny jeans, d) a red scarf and e) dark shades. I was stifling giggles so much that my mother wanted to hit me. Hehe.

Sorry, I don't intend to be mean... but girl, ano ba? Don't contradict yourself! I don't know if the ensemble was meant to be for summer or winter. It's okay to wear a two-piece suit with a translucent cover-up on the beach but in the mall? And fine, for the sake of fashion, it's okay that Pinoys wear scarves despite the equatorial weather, but not with exposed bright-colored brassieres. Maybe it's just me; but forgive me for this one, I had a bursting laugh anyway.


***BEFORE OVERTIME***
Everyday I get a lot of jokes about so many different things. Some are worth a little smile but most of them have been quite irritating. But behold, here's one joke that actually made me laugh for a good minute:

     Two atoms are walking down the sidewalk,
     Atom 1: “Wait! Stop! I think I lost an electron!"
     Atom 2: “Are you sure?”
     Atom 1: “Yeah, I’m positive!”

Corny, hehe. But I laughed! Maybe I just missed chem (eh?). Ironically, later that day I was teaching a kid about redox reactions. LOL


***SOMETIME MID-DAY***
Girl: Anna, question. What do you call that middle groove below the nostrils and above the upper lip?
Me: Ah, that one. It starts with PH. Wait... (2 seconds) ... ah, it's PHALLUS.

Girl: Oh, actually sounds familiar. Thanks. *she begins looking it up at Google to look for a technical definition*
Me: (Teka, why does it sound weird? Sexual. Shet!)  Wait!

Girl: Huh?
Me: It's PHILTRUM. Phallus is... erm, look it up on Wikipedia.

:)

Cosplay Debut

Supposedly.

Before it turned out to be the reunion of the bangag sisters.

It was sort of, a well-prepared cosplay... I'd be Kikyo from InuYasha, and sis would be Sunako Nakahara of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge (which was pretty easy, by the way). Without the convincing bow and arrow and a decent kimono top, I was pretty much desperate to find anything that would complete the Kikyo look. I was supposed to do Gunslinger Girl Claes, but I lacked the familiar brown dress for her character. Despite coming from Makati, from work, without sleep, we had somehow convinced Angela to let me borrow her taekwondo top. So we waited for her to come home Sunday morning so I can fetch the needed attire from her home. We were almost fully equipped - cameras, clothes, accessories, etc.

And by the way, coming from work, I had no sleep as well.

Finally, she was home as sis and I walked to their house, not to mention having to tolerate stares from the SanLo people as we passed by with the semi-anime look. But because dear Angela was soooo sleepy, we ran up to her room and raided it! Lol. Which turned out to be a bad (eventually, good) idea.

The photo that started it all:

We were only trying to see who was more bangag between the two nocturnal creatures you see above. (Sumisilip sa side yung Kikyo ribbon ko. Haha.)

A series of pictures followed, which got stranger and crazier by the minute... or second, actually.

Although natuloy pa rin yung cosplay... sa loob ng kuwarto!

 

Naisip ko, ngayon lang... mukha kang server sa ramen house! LOL

Remind me, girls... why was there a show of feet? LOL

And why were we UNDEAD? (Dahil yata yun sa paa? LOL)

Natawa ako dun sa isang pic... sayang. :)

Just when we thought we were a little less abnormal... finally...

... there came the SENSELESS  fits of laughter.

Grabe. Honestly, sumakit talaga tiyan ko dito. Hehe. Si Pops, super flushed! x_x Bakit nga tayo tumatawa ulit? May reason ba? Pero tama si Tita, buti na lang we don't work in the same office! Kawawa ang colleagues natin.

And this: (whatever it is you'd call this)

OMG.

Can you imagine we actually had the stomachs for two family-size pizzas after all this? And we were actually able to sleep and wake up sane again?

Oh well. I was kinda glad I didn't cosplay anyway. There's always another Otakon next year and perhaps 50 more years after that. I bet not even the huge otaku conventions can beat our craziness. Haha!



***credits to joeynikaede.multiply.com and wikipedia for the pics