It’s been more than 2 years since I last posted here. Ever since I left my fulltime job as a speechwriter and worked in a different industry altogether, I never found the time to write online. It took me this long to write once more because I feel driven to do so.
Just as cars need fuel to make them run, writers need energy to make them write.
It could be the sense of urgency made by a deadline. It could also be something that they wanted to complain about or something profound that they wanted to share.
But more often than not, the energy produced by extreme emotion is what brings fingers to keyboard, thoughts to screen.
I still remember my elementary days at St. Paul Makati about three decades ago. It was run by nuns. Specifically, by the Order of the Daughters of St. Paul. The principal at the time was Sister Marcell (since this was around the Martial Law era, we also called her Sister Marcell Law) and she was a disciplinarian of the highest order. She usually carried a plastic ruler whenever she went on her periodic walks and no one was exempted from getting rapped on the knuckles for even the slightest infraction. I recall the time I was singled out because she saw me talking with my seatmate during First Friday Mass. Whap! And one more for good measure. Whap!
The ongoing military offensive in the Southern Philippines has raised the hackles of the Catholic Church and various groups, saying that peace negotiations are still a better alternative. Basilan Catholic Bishop Martin Jumoad said that the deaths of 15 marines and 40 rebels in the battle to take an Abu Sayyaf stronghold in the remote Basilan town of Ungkaya Pukan were a waste of life and that the bloodbath should come to an end.
In this day and age of communication marvels such as the cell phone and the internet, miscommunication still occurs at the workplace. The following is an often cited and humorous take on work miscommunication: