Perks and pecularities

Something rung in my head the other day after a long lunch with an old friend. This friend has just left the journalism fraternity to join the corporate world.

As I continue to jibe him about wearing cufflinks and a tie, he smiles and points out that the cheapest ties he can find from the shops close to his new office was priced at least a hundred ringgit.
I told him, today, he has to step out of his journalistic shoes and view the world from a different glassbowl.
He readily agreed, saying that working in the corporate world gives him a completely new perspective.
Gone are the days of flexible working hours, the numerous tea breaks and the cigarette time-outs. Gone also are the days of wearing tattered jeans and your favourite Hard Rock Bali t-shirt to the office.
Welcome to a world where attires are pressed neatly, collars straight, and stiff suits prevail. I reminded him that the lucrative package offered should buy him a nice tie.

As we laugh off it, he shared with me about his colleagues, and once again remind me how people are driven by very different things.
It never fails to amaze me to read the wonderful chapters of the societal pages, the colours that define our human cultures, behaviour and etiquette in the world we live in.

My friend opined that his colleagues, some barely in the workforce for three years, were driving luxury cars, wearing designer brands and carrying designer goods. A father of three, with over a decade of journalism experience, he shakes his head with disbelief.

His quote, “I guess journalism exposes us to different things, and I’m ever grateful for that experience”.

This last phrase before we went separate ways, rung in my head.

I can’t speak on the behalf of others or those in similar professions in similar environments, the stories we hear each day, make us laugh and cry, in shame, with joy, expressed in multitude of emotions.

I sit quietly when a tsunami survivor tells her story, as she tears and explains the devastation, I laugh when I hear a philandering doctor climbing out of his clinic window as fuming wife chases him after finding out about his other “close female friends.”

While having no prejudices for other industries, lifestyles and professions, a journalist myself, I find that it constantly makes me question, the drives behind the material goods, the motivation for the different lifestyle choices, the care for different status and perceptions people keep.

Like him, I am no different, I enjoy comfortable living, I have my indulgences, and occasional splurges. It is difficult not to sound judgmental, but it always fascinate me how different things mean differently to others.

I watch as my girlfriend delicately handles her new branded handbag, while at the other extreme, I listen intently to a friend who struggles to keep his medical commitments and filial responsibilities.

I watch as my own father washes his brand new car on a daily basis, and I listen as my mother tells me the stories of how she gives away her pension to help someone make ends meet.

Looking at my five year old pseudo four-wheel drive with a busted radio and my tattered shoes.. I say…….life is wonderful.