The Thorn in My Life
July 16th, 2008
“The Thorn in My Life”
Life is never meant to be easy. It is not meant to be enjoyed but to be lived. If enjoyment derives from it in the process of living, well, that is a bonus. But by and large, it is a constant struggle of putting out brush fires before they become conflagrations. The satisfaction comes from the little victories we achieve from these activities.
A couple of days ago my son lost his very challenging job with an OEM company in the zone. It was a job difficult for him to come by. The pay was good and the job content has the potential of opening his professional horizon to greater heights. Unfortunately he was not up to its demands.
It was particularly saddening because of my familiarity with the key managers in that company. I know them and they know me – my capacity to be the best if and when the situation demands it. They know my penchant to win. My son’s incompetence in his job was, therefore, a blow to my self-confidence and self-worth.
What happened to my son is far from an isolated case but symptomatic of the prevailing “dream-less” existence of our youth today. They have eyes but cannot see and ears but cannot hear. What fill and appeal to their senses are things that lead to a void rather than wealth in existence.
Oh yeah, my son, just like another’s, have dreams – of cars, of good time, of going out with the boys, of going to places to enjoy. They know who’s who in the hip-hop world and latest news in e-buzz. But they wouldn’t have anything to do about discipline, of constant learning, of sacrifice, of respect, and going back to the basics.
Our youth of today can recognize any face on the TV screen but couldn’t explain the mechanics of supply and demand. They are geniuses in coming up with their own language but couldn’t utter sensible words in an interview. They are great in disfiguring walls with their graffiti but couldn’t write a saleable application letter. They go for the “originals” in their clothes but dress shabbily for an interview. Sure, they frequent Internet cafes to chat and surf the U-Tube, the Friendster and other fan mailboxes but are loathed to find out about the latest in management, of supply chain, of inventory control and e-commerce.
Every year, millions hit the job market. The competition is terribly high and the demands of the current jobs are way beyond their parents could even comprehend. We did not have the TQMs then, or the Six Sigma, the 5 or 6 S, depending on who’s counting, and the customers then did not know their rights. Now it is customer first, minimum inventories, faster turn-arounds, shorter product life-cycles, zero-defects, and the proclivities of the consumers are giving the marketing guys a lot of sleepless nights. Needless to say, the current available jobs have become knowledge, rather than skill focused. This could not have been that bad, had knowledge remained static. But it changes as fast as the processor in one’s laptop.
Not that I been remissed in reminding my son over and over again the signs of the times. I hold two jobs even now that I am technically retired. I do technical writing for a multinational company in the morning and e-commerce in the evening. Notwithstanding these highly knowledge-based activities, my son finds it hard to read and learn something new, something else to make himself differentiated (not different).
I know that my technical writing consultancy shall soon be gone. But that doesn’t worry me because I have my e-commerce.
The thorn in my life is that my son refused to know as much in life, and now he has nothing because he knows nothing.
To those who have much, more is given. But to those who have nothing, even that will be taken away from them.
And many of our youth today belong to that category. How sad.
