What not to do at your workplace

As the international job markets continue to show signs of recovering from the hard times, employees need to be as careful as they were during the distress years of recession.

There are plenty of good candidates available in the market and an employer won’t hesitate in finding a replacement in case he thinks you deserve to be fired, they claim.

Doing your day’s work honestly is, of course, the golden mantra, but not doing certain things can also help you avoid unnecessary problems at the workplace.

If you want to be seen as a serious employee, you just have to be more careful about not making some annoying mistakes, unless you really don’t care about losing your job. That’s why you need to avoid doing these five things at work.

DON’T SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA--One of the biggest mistake people make at work is abusing the time they have with spending it recklessly on the Internet and social media. While the Internet and social media are great work tools, they can be – and are often – misused.

Employees often chat online with family and friends, spend time on Twitter and Facebook during the time they should be slogging hard for the company they are employed with.

DON’T SHOP ONLINE WHILE AT WORK--An extension of the excessive use of the Internet, some employees also shop online while at work.

Time that could have been used productively is often wasted on online shopping sites like eBay, Amazon and a whole lot of other sites, whether window shopping designer labels or actually swiping the credit card for the goods purchased.

AVOID GOSSIPING AND OFFICE POLITICKING--Gossiping should be avoided under all circumstances. Recruitment experts believe it can only have adverse effects and reactions.

Passing on information to another employee, who then passes it on to the next one, should also be avoided.

For example, talking about a particular ‘undeserving’ employee getting the biggest hike when this may not be the case will only lead to feelings of discontent among other team members, and you may have to face the wrath of the boss if the gossip is tracked back to you.

AVOID SLACKING OFF--Taking too many leave often leaves a bad impression and no boss or office will give you a clean chit to stay away from work. Silly excuses to just avoid work can only land you in deeper soup. In this case, you will be given a few warnings, which then may lead to termination.

STOP WHINING--Negativity nurtures negativity. Employees should be smart enough to behave professionally in today’s job market.

Avoid acting unprofessional by constantly complaining about your job, salary or working conditions. Be proud of your work, your workplace or at least pretend to be until you have the next offer letter in hand.

Paraprosdokians---Say what?

It has been really awfully hot these past few days…so hot, that if you probably drop a stick of butter on the sidewalk and then crack an egg, you’re bound to get scrambled eggs or sunny side up in a few minutes. Also, the holy month of Ramadan will start on August 1 and will last for a full month, which means we will be working half-days. Well, that’s something to look forward to.

Now, where was I?

I found this funny email about some phrases that people often misuse in the abject target of aiming to sound cool or act as if he or she was a fancy speaker. I guess, really, sometimes the grammar police should be on patrol to ensure that these phrases never get used, lest you guffaw your heart out.

These phrases are called ‘paraprosdokians,’ ,which is defined as figures of speech wherein the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently used in a humorous situation. Well, here are the most commonly heard;

1.) "I'm only human nature."

2.) "First and for all. "

3.) "All of a suddenly..."

4.) "That's what I'm talking about it!"

5.) "Thanks and advanced!"

6.) "Forget it about it! What are friends are for?"

7.) "It's as brand as new!"

8.) "Keep that bear in mind."

9.) "When it rains, it's four."

10.) "Every cloud has a silver lightning."

11.) "Grab the bull by the balls!"

12.) "Don’t just do something! stand there!"

13.) "My answers have been prayered!"

14.) "You're barking at the wrong dog."

15.) "That's the way the cookie jars."

16.) "Lets give them a big hand of applause!"

17.) "Well well well, look do we have here."

18.) "Hi I'm Bhoy. what's yours?"

19.) "The sky is the langit."

20.) "Hello? for a while...please hang yourself...My boss is out of town. Would you like to wait?"

21.) "And where do you think you are off to running to?"

22.) "Why won't you cut me some slacks?"

23.) "How dare you are!"

24.) " What’s your next class before this?"

25.) "The idea crossed at the back of my mind."

26.) "Are you joking my leg?"

27.) "It's a blessing in the sky."

28.) " I always go there sometimes."

Suckerpunched defiance

Methinks the Sheriff who was itching to serve a demolition order to a squatter’s community in Davao didn’t know what was coming when he felt the wrath of Davao Mayor, Inday Sara Duterte. Watching the video on Youtube shows that In a matter of seconds, Duterte’s fist had gone aflying into Sheriff Abe Andres.

If you haven’t seen this video; you can watch it below;



The lady has got balls and it definitely matches those of her father, former Davao Mayor Rudy Duterte.

What does Inday’s actions mean to the people of Davao. It’s actually a strong message—Don’t mess with me.

As expected, local groups including the IBP, the CHR and almost every other department wanting to be in the spotlight are condemning the action and is even encouraging the Sheriff to file charges against Duterte. Yeah, yeah, it was a show of conduct unbecoming, but why not look at the whole incident as a whole before passing judgment.

Let me try to summarize the event in a nutshell—local judge releases demolition order; Duterte asks for a two hour allowance so that the serving of the order would be peaceful; Sheriff Andres still proceeds to serve the order despite the request; chaos, as expected ensues; Inday Sara arrives, fresh from a rescue and monitor mission of the recent flood victims; She calls for the sheriff and Wham, Bang, Ala-kazam.

The Mayor asked for a two hour deferment. She did not ask for a week, or a month or a year..she asked for two measly hours. She had a point in saying that you can not just serve a demolition order and walk away unscathed or without hostile reception from the incident. When you look at it, it just really boils down to common sense.

And the punch? Be it as you may, but I think he had it coming. His actions to serve the order despite the request for a two hour deferment demonstrates an air of arrogance that says, I am not under your office, so fuck off while I serve this order.

In fact, close circles have even cited that Duterte was made more furious when she was told that the Sheriff actually said, ”She’s not my boss. I am following the RTC. If she comes here, I will punch her.”

Yes, the Sheriff had balls, I just don’t know where they are right now.

And the rest is now forever going to be etched as a tall tale in Davao’s political history.

But come to think of it, I wonder if this Sheriff would have backed down if it was Manny Pacquiao reacting to his defiance….He probably would be reeling, “Now I know…”

Chutzpah.