Albert Herdianto Widjojo
Before going to the pharmacy to buy over-the-counter medicines for my eldest daughter to have asthma, I checked the medicines she could consume to overcome the disorder, both availability, and expiration. Finally this afternoon I went to the pharmacy to buy a cough medicine that suits her needs.
At the pharmacy, while waiting for the delivery of medicine after payment, I checked the messaging app on my cellphone. Some time when I read the writings and chat about old-fashioned or obsolete ways of thinking that I read in a group thread, other people who were also waiting for medicine within a few seats from me suddenly sighed at the person next to him “Ouch, I forgot that today my cellular prepaid card has expired, and I haven’t had time to top up anymore! “. “Oh, has your number become expired?” asked the person next to him. “It seems so. Ah, we must immediately go to the service center of this provider,” he said again.
It’s funny, for some reason I often experience this situation, hear or talk about a word or something understanding over and over again in a short period of time, in one day or several hours, and this happens once again. This time, the word is expired. With the cellphone in hand and the sigh I just heard, I gasped for a moment, what’s with this word? Is this a signal of something?
A call from the dispatcher of the pharmacy then broke the chatter in my mind while discussing the words. Shortly after I received the medicine I bought, at the counter for delivery of the item I checked the expiration date; May 21, 2021. That’s okay, then I thanked the clerk and left the pharmacy, and didn’t think about it anymore.
At 7 pm my niece called to remind me that yesterday was the deadline we gave in a summons to her client’s company and asking for advice on what she and her colleagues should do then.
As I write this, at 11:59 p.m., my wife tells my two daughters that she will come home tonight from Semarang, which is not in line with her schedule of work that actually should end on Saturday. The reason is, she has run out of patience to work with a team of consultants who are assigned who always ignore her thoughts, input, and suggestions that are contextual with the task and also with her area of expertise. Even worse, just now, at 12:14, she called me and gave news about her plans to go home earlier and suddenly, which aside from the reasons above also felt that she had been demeaned by merely being told to type something. “My patience for them has expired!”, My wife muttered on the phone. “They are not consultants, even though they are Doctoral degrees, they are only plagiarists who take other people’s thoughts to be written as reports, and when valid data is requested by the employer, they throw blame on each other and accuse me of being the one who has reported their behavior to principal”.
I can only say, “Alright honey, I miss you so much. I will wait for you at home this morning. See you very soon!”. I can understand her decision for we always discuss the situation she faced in the team and in her capacity as a senior consultant, as I ever briefly described the team, here in a post last week. between the employer and the incompetent team, that she must defend because she is in it.
Those words knock on my eardrum again! Well, many people forget that life is like a flag, respected when fluttering above and will pulled down after passing through the day. Also, we need not be discouraged if our presence is not considered meaningful because elsewhere we are very important and eagerly awaited.
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Question of
Is the phenomenon that I often experience just a coincidence?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
If you were in my wife’s position, would you make the same decision?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Should people with a high level of education take the work lightly, do not carry out the tasks as they should, and also plagiarize?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Is it important for us to realize that many things in our lives have an expiration date?
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Yes
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No
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Very interesting post, Albert.Thank you for sharing it with us!
Specialists should be professional in doing their job.
How are you these days? I haven’t seen you on Virily for quite a while.
Sorry, I have missed your posts, I haven’t seen it come on my feed. Hope you are well, and great post to ponder about, and be grateful we have not yet expired.
Every thing in our life has its own deadline, dear Albert … look at the engine in the picture, which apparently has long expired
Openness, honest and integrity are virtues that could inconvenience us at times. But in the long run, we would always do well wit these qualities.
Expiration dates. What of it? Just live life, I suppose ?. Is your wife working in a team of male egos?
As you know, all kind of material and thought has its limit; time, reach, levels, and else except the soul and all of the pure essences.
Yes, my wife is the only woman on the team, besides being the most senior in experience and age. That should not be an obstacle because my wife is good at getting along but they have indeed installed a barrier from the start because she was accused of being an “insider” of the assignor in the role of a spy.
The lawyers are supposed to protect the law and justice; not their client. The consultants are supposed to work for the best interest of the project; not the companies that have interest in the project. But people always interpret things differently ?.
And male egos do not look at the interpersonal skill nor at the professional capability and intelligence of a woman. They just look at her and see she is a woman. The smarter and more capable the woman is, the more male egos dislike her. It is present in most culture.
you bring forth the argument of value. All humans deserve to be treated the same. The measure of a human is what and how they do under the reality of light. When the light shines upon them do they reach out to others and help (or ask for help) or do they instead grab the broom and attempt to push the mud under the rug?
That is the point of view of the philosopher I like.?
My wife considers them has offended her value system, also especially violates the professional ethics, appropriate procedures to adequate results through measurable performance, and she has decided to be out of such a team that is prone to tripping over legal issues.
my sympathies to your wife. I know things like that are very hard to deal with.
I will send your support for her, comrade. Thank you so much.
of course, we are nothing if we are not together!
I believe every thing has to expire at end in this world
Unfortunately, people often forget things they really already know.
There is just so much one can take and your wife probably had enough
Yes, my wife feels that way. She told me that it was better for her to leave them than to be angry or bullied again because the pressure on the team kept mounting because of their low-reaching performance.
I totally agree with your wife and her decision. I would do the same. I don’t tolerate humiliation.
You are right, dear friend. She could no longer be patient in dealing with the alienation treat, and their bullying in attitudes and words because she was accused as an “insider” of the assignor in the role of a spy.
We all have to know when it is time to move on. Sounds like your wife has realized this.
Since attending the initial preparatory meeting, my wife has felt a number of “oddities”, such as feels being alienated by the team because she had to join a team that she didn’t know and whose capacity was unknown. Project owners are rather insistent that she continue to join the team because they believe in her experience and abilities, unfortunately, not so with other team members, including team leaders. Her frustration culminated when his input that was not considered important and neglected by the team was questioned by the assignor – which is could not be answered with evidence and data – made my wife was accused of denouncing or betray about their work to the assignor.
I trust things are better with your wife, my friend.