Pieces Of My Memories II.

For over two years I was a computer technician in the Quick computer service centre, the Nawarat computer centre, the Biznet computer store and the Surf n Surf internet cafe in Yangon, Myanmar. Generally those computer centres and stores were not very big but they dealt mainly with sales and rental services. All the owners were young and they worked outside the country before they established their own businesses.

I moved from one centre to another to search for practical experience and knowledge about computers. Mostly I met different people who came from different backgrounds. I worked as a junior and then a senior technician in those centres. Gradually I adapted to their ways and I was quite influenced by their lifestyles and the ways of thinking especially how to approach the seniors and the bosses in the workplace.

As an inexperienced worker in the computer field, I did not receive any salary in my first two months because my boss thought that I needed more practical experience. I worked from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm everyday but I often came home late. Of course I graduated in the Government Computer College before I applied for the job. In fact, nobody cared about my degree because I had to scrub the floors and clean the computer monitors every day. Sometimes, my boss would ask me to run errands for his family.

After almost four months, I had the privileges of going with the senior technicians who worked for the outdoor services. But, it was not simple. I was obliged to carry their bags and sometimes their shoes to show them that I was a good apprentice. Sometimes I had to treat them with snacks or drinks. Of course, when I did make mistakes, they would not spare me. They would insult me with various swear words, complain to the boss and shout at me even in front of the customers. That was the worst experience in my life.

Later, when I became supervisor in the same store, I tried to change the relationships and attitude with my juniors because I did not want to act as those seniors did to me. So, my boss was angry with me because he wanted me to oppress the juniors with extra manual works like I was oppressed before. Instead, I quit the job and looked for another store which offered lower salaries but more works.

In the working experience, I encountered people who thought that they knew everything but they were easily offended when someone pointed at their mistake. They were selfish people who did not want to share their skills but only keep their skills for themselves exclusively. In fact, they wanted to be treated with great respect by their juniors. Sometimes they were actually dangerous the ways they took revenge on others who made them uncomfortable. They would try to find faults and mercilessly and verbally or even physically attack. Normally they would wait for their rivals to fail in their "weak points" so that they could easily trap them.

Strangely, I learned one of the most common expression in the working place which was "let just the bosses know what you do but don't get caught." It was a witty metaphor for the relationship between the bosses and their employees. Sometimes, I wondered if those bosses cared for their business or tried to find out what was going on with their employees. I doubted they would like to disturb them because their understanding seemed to be like the game of hide-and-seek.

During those days, I struggled to adjust to the people who came from different lifestyles. Of course, I met good people who helped me to withstand those challenges. They guided me to become a stronger and more vigilant man. I also observed and gained pragmatic lessons from those who oppressed and bullied me with their aggressive ways. They witnessed in themselves that they could not advance in their careers into better lifestyles because they lost their jobs due to their corrupt morality. Those were priceless lessons for me after all.