working life : is it fun?

I received a comment (testimonial) from a long lost ex-classmate of mine, back when we were in secondary school. These few weeks had been like a reunion for me. A lot of old friends (more to ex-classmates and schoolmates) kept in touch with me. Some through Friendster, others would private messaged me in Messengers. Whatever it is, all of them asking the same thing: "Working? Wow! Life must be so great for you now that you are working.."

Hold on. What is so great bout working life? And why does people has the misconception or should i say misunderstanding that working life is better than studying life?

Let me tell you something: working life ain't that great. That's the truth. Face it. Just look at our parents. They might be happy with the family, no fussing, no complaining, look calm as if life flows nicely like a calm river. Do yourself a favor. Ask them what's running in their head. Alright. Maybe they won't tell you. The only thing they will tell you is "Wait till you have a job and money of your own, then you'll know.." Well, it's true.

First few weeks after starting work may be fun and exciting. You're all pumped up to be the best among the rest. Give your best attitude, best performance, best competency and such. The first pay will be nice too. You'll be wandering "How should I spend my money?" If you're a baby still staying with your parents even though you are working already, plus not giving them any income for the kitchen necessities or maybe help to pay the bills, then ok..you will have A LOT of money to be spent. But until when?

Once when you live on your own, and have your own money, that's where the problem starts and bad news : problems will stay and keep on repeating until you have your own working kids, while you on the other hand is enjoying your pension. Picture this : Before your receive your payroll, you have to be aware that you need a budget planner. And you plan your budget. How much for the house rent. How much for the car/bike installments and fuel. How much for the insurance. How much to give to your siblings who are still studying. How much to give to your parents just to let them know that you are responsible enough to care for them now. How much to spend for food for the whole month. How much are the bills. How much for this. How much for that. And the list goes on..And oh. Don't forget to save some for your golden age later on. Alright. Keep these in your head on one side.

Then, end of the month comes near and wahlah! your pay cheque comes in. Everyone is happy and so are you. By now, you'd be thinking "Oh oh! I want to buy that green and brown wedges from Nose. And also that cute sandals from Roxy. Ah-ha! Don't forget the elegant heels and handbag from Carlo Rino. And I want to indulge myself at Haagen Dazs. Maybe dinner at Tony Roma's. Movies..oh yeah..the movies on show now are nice too. But I need to get a nice dress to date with him. That would go with the wedges.." and again the list of "Oh oh what i want this month" goes on..AS IF money grows on trees.

You checked your budget. You know you need to run these errands first before you can spend extra for yourself. That is IF and ONLY IF you are aware and responsible enough to keep up with your budget. Some of us just blindly spend everything, then only they are aware that they have spend more than the budget until they don't have enough to pay for things that needed payment. By the end of the day, you will see how fast..wait! let me rephrase that..how incredibly RAPID your salary goes off to errands and payments. In the end, you can't even spend extras for yourself. Forget Nose. Forget Roxy. Forget Carlo Rino. Forget Haagen Dazs. Forget Tony Roma's. Forget all those exquisite and expensive things. Life's hard. Money easily comes and more easily goes. Face it.

Then again, working collegues come into consideration. Not all your collegues going to be a lovey goody muffin to you. One hint: Never trust anyone at work. Never rely or depend on anyone else but yourself. In working life, you will find a real hardcore backstabber, b*tches, whores, son of b*tches, and you can name it however you want. You work yourself out till late at night for a presentation, or maybe a task given to you but in the end, somehow somewhere and someone will trash your work into the bin, or worse.. take your own piece of work for his/her own good. He/she gets a compliment or a bonus from the boss, and you can have his/her sh*t. Get what I mean?

Sorry readers for the harsh words, but trust me; working life is not as great as you think it is. You can hardly find real friends. But don't worry, you will have a lot of real and "unreal" foes. Sometimes working life can be seen as Fear Factor. Sometimes as another season of LOST or Prison Break, trying to survive and find your way out. Most of the time, it's like Amazing Race. My advice? Enjoy yourself while you still can, before you are fully commited to working hell.