Beautiful people

I'm a big, big girl in a big, big world.

So I managed to survive a week of my first ever working experience - excluding my day off on Good Friday and weekends, that is - and if I were to describe it, I would say that it was not such a bad first-job experience. Before I left the office on Thursday, a few of my colleagues asked me how I found working for the first time and all they received in return were two words; It's alright. Every now and then, I get asked the same question. Those people would also received and it's alright. And maybe sometimes when I feel like it, I would add, it wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be. But that would be the end of it.

For those whom I have held a good and solid conversation with might realize that I am not one for simple and curt answers but when it comes down to comprehending my feelings of being in a world - the working world - I have yet to adjust myself to, short and curt answers are all I find myself uttering. Perhaps it takes getting used to it first, so let's just leave it to time.

Allowing time to determine how well I adjust to my surroundings is one thing, just accepting the circumstances, being grateful and taking in all that is around me is another. Sometimes, I admit, that I am selfish. I am too damn ungrateful. And I sometimes have my head stuck in the clouds of pride and ego. I tend to complain a lot and even when I know I am far better off than most people, I sometimes am still not satisfied.

It took a train ride from home to work, with 8 stations in between for me to realize how good I have it. 

• I was handed a job in the palm of my hands just to kill time and keep myself occupied. 
• I get paid RM100 a day just by faxing invitations for upcoming events and calling up sectaries to confirm their bosses attendance at the event. 
• I am surrounded by colleagues who are fun, easy-going and so very comfortable to be around. 
• I have the best and most generous boss anyone could ask for. 
• Coffee breaks and reasonable deadlines.
• My own desk complete with a desktop and internet access. 

What more can I ask for? 

____________

I commute from home to work via public transport and it was in-between one of those train rides when I began to realize how long I have been behind closed doors, oblivious to what is on the other side.

Seated in the LRT, on my way back home that Wednesday evening, without my earphones plugged in my ears, I let my eyes and mind wander. I took in the busyness and craziness of my surroundings and managed to see and realize what I have not before.

For one thing, I realized people. Sure this may sound a bit too absurd because I have obviously noticed people during my many travels via any mode of transportation and anywhere I go but what I mean now is people - raw, original and flawed people.

As I comfortably sat on the train, watching and observing each and everyone within my radius - and range of sight, of course - I noticed as people await for their destination and move towards the doors to rush out and get replaced by a new swarm of people, sometimes familiar and sometimes just a complete stranger to me.

Stranger or not, something within me made me want to get to know them. Learn about their backgrounds, their past. I suddenly became so inquisitively curious, wanting answers to each and every question I mentally asked myself. But I wasn't shameless enough to succeed.

It then dawned on me that it did not matter if I got to know them through and through, it did not matter if I received answers to my questions. At the end of the day, I realized that they were significant to me because at one point, we crossed paths.

Be it the guy who sold me my latest pair of jeans. Or the madam who does not know how to respect the confined space that is the train by literally screaming into her phone. The little girl whose hand is wrapped around her mum's finger, wanting to wander off but in need of stability as well. The man whom is in his own little world, with earphones plugged in his ears. The guy who kicked his pen out of annoyance because it fell to the ground when he was trying to put it in his breast pocket. Foreigners with a whole lot of luggage, awaiting their destination.

People. Different, crazy, original and all that rhymes with it... but still so very beautiful.

And I think to myself, Why haven't I noticed all of this before? Not wasting time, the answer comes immediately; I was probably blinded and side-tracked by everything being so convenient in my life. So much till' my mind does not even wander off to foreign surroundings, or better yet, be thankful of the simple things.

When the electric doors open at my destination, I stand up and walk out with a smile across my face.


Before I sign off, enjoy.