mrsjono

My genuine answers to 10 frequently asked questions:

1) How are you?
This is the most frequently asked question which I hate answering. My response varies according to who asks and when. Most of the time, it’s just another way of saying hi so I don’t take it seriously.

2) Where do you stay?
Ice-breaker question. Highly likely the first question people would ask when they see me for the first time.

3) Are you a fresh graduate?
I get this several times and their next response would be to laugh and say “You’re very fresh!” What do they mean by that? How am I supposed to continue the conversation? Yeah I’m fresh, you’re stale?

4) Oh, then do you know so and so?
I have a few classmates working on the same floor as me. So the next question they’ll normally ask is “Oh, then you know the rest or not?” I wish I could say "No, I don't."

5) Did you apply together with the rest?
After which the subsequent question would be “Did you all apply to come here together?”
No. I wish no one I know applied to come here in the first place.

6) Where are most of your friends working at?
This is just a question to know how is the current job market. Why should I provide people with first hand information about the job market for recent graduates when I get nothing in return?

7) How long have you been here?
(My rent free period is going to be over)

8) Did you apply for this position yourself or you applied for something else and they offered you this?
Neither. If I could, I would not have applied for anything in the first place.

9) Who interviewed you?
I guess by finding out who made the decision to hire you, people get a rough idea of your degree of worth. For example, if you were interviewed by the CEO and you passed the test, it means you must be of a certain level of caliber to get selected by a high ranking person.

10) Why are you so quiet?
When the conversation comes to a deadlock, they'll ask this. It's like I have a disease or something. What's wrong with being quiet? Why do people find it a problem with being quiet and reserved? How come people never ask questions like "Why are you so noisy?" Quiet people are perceived as weak, timid and incompetent in a predominantly Western society which values boldness, ambition and confidence.

The inevitable came and I finally crossed over to the dark side.

I've been wailing non-stop about being pushed over the line by an invisible force. I never wanted to part with freedom and I dread what's to come.

As I drag my feet over the line, with it comes greater responsibilities, more uncertainties, and lesser friends. As I join many others in moving up the corporate ladder, will I be consumed by greed, materialism and hypocrisy? I'm afraid. I don't want to become a person I don't like and don't want to be.

Hey it wouldn't be as bad as you think, my friends would say. I don't know. I don't know how much or how long people would ponder before they begin the next phase. It struck me that I can no longer be an innocent kid. It saddens me that I'm no longer under the protection of the invisible force which has mapped out the past 16 years for us. It scares me that no one is going to draw out the remaining roadmap for me anymore.

Like everyone else, I know I'll be lost for awhile before I get used to a new lifestyle and a new environment. Meanwhile, I'll just trudge along with reluctance...