Temp Job.

I remember my very first job in New York: a temp at a city government agency which tracked down abuses within families, and placed abused kids in foster homes.

I was there for about three months.

On my first week, I was already looking for a permanent job. So what I did was during my lunch break, I'd go to employment agencies and register, or I'd call employers using the phone in the hallway.

I got lucky on my third month. An employment agency told me a big law firm had an opening. I applied and got the job and stayed there for four years before I moved to Canada.

My years in Manhattan were happy. Although I didn't have family there except for a cousin and in laws of my sister, I never really got bored nor lonely.

Yes, New York city never sleeps, and it offers a vast array of pleasures - from its huge public library to museums, theatres, department stores, parks, restaurants, and the many different colors of its populace.

One time I hailed a cab to get me to Park Avenue for a doctor's appointment and the driver was a Pinoy. Another time, I bought donuts at Mr. Donut's and was offered free timbits by a Pinoy. (Note: timbits were day old small donuts so they were being unloaded from the counter).

I used to enjoy my lunches on the streets. There were food carts that offered various cuisines - Chinese, Greek, and the famous New York hot dogs. Or I'd go to this take out counter/salad bar where your food will be weighed. Another favorite was a pizza parlor.

After my food purchase, I'd just sit in a corner or a step or simply walk while eating. Or I'd walk to Macy's to make a quick purchase and run back for the afternoon shift.

When I had overtime which was quite often, the office provided free dinner and a free ride. It was not just a ride, but a limo ride.

Working a temp job made my move to New Jersey from Ohio easy. The temp job provided quick money while I was looking for regular, permanent work.

A temp job can be likened to a temporary personal relationship, or an un-committed liaison. It satisfies a need.

Shifting to a permanent job again is akin to a relationship. If you go for a permanent relationship, then commitment is expected of you.

When you get tired of a permanent job, or you get burned out, you could take the easy way out and resign. But in personal relationships, before you jump ship, you have to weigh in the pros and cons.

In the Philippines where there is no divorce , it becomes doubly hard to opt out of marriages. But even without legal separation, there are many couples who choose to live apart permanently and take on new relationships.

Many families now rely on two breadwinners. And with the new found financial independence, many wives, instead of holding on to marriages, become easy proponents of separation.

Whatever the reasons for spousal discords, many couples nowadays find themselves veering more and more away from the traditional Filipino marriage, the one we knew from our parents, the one we thought to be "till death do us part."

Being apart from each other for so long, which is the case for many married overseas Filipino workers, is one of the many reasons for separation. It's common to hear the phrase, " we outgrew each other, we no longer share the same interests, we've grown apart in likes, in tastes, in outlook.

It could be easier to hold on to a temporary relationship; there are no expectations in the first place.

Sometimes I miss my temp job.

Love Thy Labour.

It's true. We, Pinoys somehow abhor blue collar jobs or labour. So, we send our kids to school and they end up taking courses that will lead to professional jobs such as accounting, teaching, nursing, engineering, law, and medicine.

Vocational courses which lead to skilled labour is avoided. When I was about to enter college, students entering vocational or technical schools were looked down upon.

Then, the oil scent from the Middle East started to blow into to our shores. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other mid-east nations started recruiting in the late 70's for people to run their oil rigs, hotels, hospitals and other industries. Much later, southeast Asian countries recruited our manpower or OFW as they are known today.

My closest encounter with OFW's came in the person of an uncle in law. He got married in his teens and didn't finish high school, so he ended working in a factory. He got recruited in Jeddah as an assistant cook. My aunt was so happy because they were able to build a house and buy appliances, and send a son to dental school. But after several years of working overseas, he quit and was not able to earn again.

Although many of the Pinoys work in high level professional jobs overseas, many more are working in menial jobs. In our hometown in Nueva Ecija, there are lots of men and women who work in factories in Taiwan and Indonesia, and in sorry jobs in the Middle East. Most didn't finish college.

In Hongkong and Singapore, our teachers are working as nannies. In the Middle East, our engineers are working as technicians. In the Philippines, our college and university graduates are working in call centres.

In Canada, young people get early education in working. At eight or ten, many get paid delivering newspapers or walking dogs, or mowing the neighbour's lawn. By the age of twelve, they are baby sitting. At fifteen, they work part time in supermarkets and groceries. By the age of eighteen, they work full time jobs in garages as service tech, or in offices as bookkeepers, insurance underwriters, and in labour jobs as automakers, steel workers, coal miners, sanitation engineers, etc. Others go to universities.

Labour jobs are decent jobs. They bring food into tables. Labourers in Canada and the U.S. can afford to buy cars and take vacations.

It is the way people look at their jobs that determine their success and contentment.

When my father eloped with my mother, he was nineteen and in the middle of his law studies. While my grandparents continued financing his studies, he had to find a job to sustain his growing family.

He worked as market collector at the old Central Market during the day, and pursued his law studies in the evening.

Pinoys are not used to working early, and at odd jobs. While young, we are not even expected to water the plant nor feed the cat or dog. The household help does those kinds of things. So, we look down upon labour. It is not something we look forward to doing as our means of livelihood.

If the OFWs were working here and not abroad, they probably would not do what they're doing right now. In Paris when I was visiting, the "maitre d" was a Pinay who'd worked and lived there in the last fifteen years. In most cruise ships almost 80% of the crew are Pinoys, and even in Portugal, I met Pinays who were working in labour jobs and trying to get to other parts of Europe, and in Spain there are so many Pinoys you'd bump into them at malls and train stations.

They don't mind working as nannies and in factories, because the pay is decent.

The twelve year primary and secondary education will soon be adopted in the Philippines. While there are parents who resent the fact that they'd be spending more for those two additional years, there are more of those who realize that the new plan would make Pinoys more "educated," and more competitive.

After high school, Canadians and U.S students just take one-or two-year courses, and after that, work as bookkeepers, vet med assistants, legal secretaries, LPNs, and general office workers, or in blue collar jobs. They have pride in working, at odd jobs and in professional ones.

If we start improving our educational system, people will be more educated in choosing their leaders, and in understanding their rights and privileges, then down the road, be more demanding of their government and of private employers, which could ultimately lead to better services, and wages, a more effective management of national talents, and more inventiveness and an entrepreneurial spirit which could trigger development of new and more industries.

So, let's dream that later on, whether one is doing labour or professional job, the quality of their lives could be at par with each other.