Memo

The incident that happened to me yesterday has got into my nerves but it stunned me when I even dreamt about it last night. So I decided to let it out via this writing.

I barely take my AM/lunch/PM breaks without getting my hands on my tasks. Perhaps I’ve got used to this kind of discipline in my 9 years of stay in the company I'm currently working with. Keeping myself busy rather than doing anything that don’t contribute to my skills and personal improvement. But something cropped up yesterday that changed my paradigm at work. This is the very first time that I received a verbal warning via email about the most trivial offense I’ve committed in lieu to our office policy on work schedule (break-time). That is brushing my teeth approximately an hour after our lunch break.

Now hear me out.

What is 3 minutes of brushing my teeth compared to:

- the summed up hours that I spent in the company for free coz we’re not allowed to file overtime in fractions of an hour. I’ve been doing this for 5 years now.

- the times I didn’t take my break coz I opt to continue with my work.

- spending a quarter of my life loyally working for this company.

And how about:

- those in the 23rd floor that can freely do what they like coz nobody seemed to see nor be bothered by their violations.

- those employees who also broke the work schedule policy on break-time but were not apprehended coz nobody from the HR staff caught them in the act?

- those people in position who are also guilty of this policy, one way or another, coz they seemed to be working, pretending to be busy the whole day in front of their monitors, when in fact, their activities don’t concern work.

I’m not against the person who issued me the memo. Not because she is my friend and kumare but I understand that she’s just doing her job. What boils me to anger is if such policy exists, then all those responsible for its implementation must execute it by all means. Apprehension shouldn’t be a game of chance.

The law must apply to all or none at all.