Some jobs, especially those with obscure titles, are difficult to describe. When asked what I do for a living I’m torn between giving them the technical description and just blurting out the simplest explanation. Should I dumb down my answer? Will they even understand half of what I will say? Should I watch for clues that what I said sunk in? Or are their eyes glazing over?

There are three people so far who asked me this very question & I’ve been so uncomfortable with the experience I couldn’t forget.

The first is my mum. I started working during my last semester in Uni. I was hired by a small software house in Makati and the salary (allowance really as it was non-taxable) for the training period was just six thousand pesos (6K Php). Since I was renting a room at 4K a month, I ended up asking Nanay to pay for extra money the first two months (maybe longer, the detail’s hazy hehe). Probably pitying her daughter’s situation she ventured that our neighbour’s son who had the same degree is working in the local Coop bank, perhaps I should try that, too? I said no and besides I wasn’t a programmer.

Nanay’s follow up was to ask me what it was I do anyway. I told her I test the programmer’s work. The look she gave me said she didn’t quite understand how the heck my job was different from a programmer’s. Besides what’s a programmer anyway? She tried to ask a few more times (every few months) to find out exactly what it is I do and why I get sent abroad, what do I look for in these programs?? She eventually gave up after 4 or 5 years. These days she just tells neighbours and friends that her bunso works with computers. Clean and simple, everyone nods none the wiser.

The second person who asked me this worked in my last job. She was part of the commercial team and I, being QA/testing, belong to the Technology department. I told her what I do and gave a few examples relating to our product/platform. She smiled and asked, “so is it hard?”

Ohhh. How do you answer that one? I don’t want to say it’s easy because it’s not. But I didn’t know what her reference point was. So I just said technically speaking it’s from the other end of the spectrum as our programmers. Technical know-how is essential to be effective but to have the domain expertise is also a must. A few nods were made to indicate she got it, but I don’t think so.

Okay in the “real world” QA/testing as a profession still needs a lot of make-up. We’re still seen as dumping ground for those that cannot code. But that’s another topic.

My point is, can I say nursing is easy? Or that writing as profession is easy? I’m not qualified and I don’t want to boast. I just know there are times in my job that I can do it with my eyes closed (that’s the time I need to look for new opportunities) and there are many times when I pray my skills are enough because I feel really stretched.

The third person actually was with several other people. They all look at IT as if I earn 24-carat gold coins and they earn gold-plated coins. When I told them what I do for a living, this guy said “IT is easy“. Afterall didn’t he know how to use a computer? It apparently takes some practise to master what us professionals takes years to learn. I was too disgusted/disappointed to say anything I just looked at him and then I turned to someone else.

Was he talking about practising using Word? Or was he thinking of mastering object-oriented programming?

One of the “listeners” said she’s thinking of taking some lessons in I.T and ditch nursing in the UK. Do I think she can do it? I said anyone can do anything they want, it depends on the person whether their life will be any different than what it is now.

I guess I was too profound they lost interest. Or perhaps they turned away with disgust, too?

I do get stumped a lot of times when asked what I do. I answer and still I hear “so, what does it mean? what do you do?”

I work for the MI6 as a Filipino counter-intelligence in the international arms trade. Will that be easier to understand?

We attended a children’s party last week. As usual you get people commenting how fast your kid’s growing up, how he looks well now, etc. Yes, mundane things to those who cannot relate. But those comments can spin for a long time if you’re a parent.

The hostess said pogiBoy is not only mummy’s lookalike, she said he’s also got my personality. I only heard the last bit in passing & I was busy talking to others. But I didn’t forget. I’m actually puzzled by the comment. I’m torn whether I should be flattered or insulted or worried.

See in Pinoy context, when people mention my personality more often than not it’s negative. They find me intimidating, insulting, scary, over-opinionated, arrogant, etc etc. No, no one’s ever told me that direct to my face, but I know and those close to me confirm that’s how some people see me. Sometimes they do, too, but they love me just the same. In fact, there are times when I realise that yes I have those characteristics. If I look at myself from the outside, it’s not difficult to understand where those remarks would come from. Afterall, my facial feature’s either sad or mad, it’s rarely “friendly”.

Because I’m anal-paranoid-obsessive (choose one) the comment’s been bugging me for a week. Is pogiBoy un-likeable? Did he catch an unpleasant attitude from me?

You’re now thinking there must be something wrong with me. E hindi pa ba naman obvious yun by now?

I used to mentor an Oxford intern. We were talking about literature during downtime and she said she’s into classics. I said I was too and said Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories and the Hunchback of Notre Dame are two of my all-time faves.

“Oh I meant Austen and the like.” hehe

So I bought “Jane Eyre” and to this day it’s on my stack of “to read/finish”. Talagang natapos ko na yung Pullman trilogy (Northern Lights) but I couldn’t get past the first chapter of Eyre.

This year I have had the pleasure of accidentally catching old English films on “Pride and Prejudice” (na talaga namang halos magasgas na sa dami nang remake), “Emma”, “Jane Eyre” and last night “Persuasion”, though I missed the first 30 minutes. Since it’s not BBC, I was almost reluctant to wee in case I missed a minute of it.

Para kong tangang kinikilig. I even sigh — hhaayyy. Salamat na lang at di ko nababasa ito nung high school ako. Kundi baka wala akong naging boyfriend. Lagi na lang akong magiging sawi.

Sana next time maabutan ko naman “Wuthering Heights”.