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.
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.
posted by esereth at 2:30:00 AM
4 Comments:
For a minute, I thought you're going to be dead. Hehe. That's weird, di ba akala mo your namesake is gone?
Oh oh. The girl I messaged (on Friendster) na Uichanco... She messaged back. At parang... Buzzkill. I messaged her talagang nobela! I was soooo excited. Eto reply nya. Reaction ko in my head was "Ah. ... Oh-kay." -_-;; She wasn't as excited as I was! *heartbreak*
Anyway, not to steal your moment -- haha sorry -- I LOVE IT! Aren't long-lost relatives soooo cool?! :D ...But only when they're as excited as you are to find them, I guess. Hee. There has to be a part 2 of this. :D
Akala ko nga rin ikakamatay ko na ang sobrang boredom... anyways, I didn't think kasi na bossing pala si namesake. So I thought she was transferred back to the other office or somethin'. Turns out she was that girl I see everyday checking on people. Haha.
Yesss, syempre may part 2 and hopefully more. We haven't caught up yet after the incident above, and I want to tell her pa naman that we might be related by my paternal lolo whose relatives my dad seldom met when they were young (accdg to Daddy).
Anyway, about your long lost relative... I read the reply na. I was expecting more eagerness, pero it might also be ayaw lang nyang magmukhang overexcited diba? Baka di rin makatiis yan, curiosity will eat her eventually. :)
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