Since I started working in 1992, Wednesday has always been my favorite day (the favorite time being Friday 6pm, for obvious reasons). I can't really explain why. Perhaps, because it being the middle of the work week, I could be a little irresponsible and go on a late night with colleagues. I only had to worry about surviving two more days before the weekend.
It probably sounds like I do not like going to work. On the contrary, I have always loved going to the office. I remember when I started working at Far East Bank (it does not exist anymore) in Intramuros, I would wake up at 5:30 am, be on the way to work by 6:00 am and on my desk writing my morning commentary for the big boss by 7:00 am. Romy Dy Tang, my boss' boss, was impressed because whenever he would call before 8:00 am, it was either Arnold Bengco or me who would answer and be ready with our market chit-chat. Needless to say, we passed our probationary period easily. (Of course we never said it out loud but, in the early 90s, traffic in Manila was so bad. There were flyovers being constructed all over the place. And Arnold and I did not relish driving in traffic. That was the real reason we were in the office quite early and left quite late every day!)
I had so much fun working at Far East Bank. I learnt many new things. It felt great to be trading in lots of USD1.0 million. The bank's money, of course. There were the Philippine and Latin American Brady bonds (google for that). It was a whole new world for me. And, to top it all, I felt that I had lots of money myself. The first monthly paycheck was PHP5,000 (PHP4,000 after tax), that's about USD110 in today's money. I was rich. I spent it all in clothes, shoes, small pieces of jewelry (hulugan pa), food, and drinks. Thanks to my generous parents who gave me my car and paid for my gas, the only thing I bought that was NOT for my own consumption was a laser disc player for my late mom. I am so glad I was able to do that! Thanks Far East Bank!
I remember the day I interviewed for that job at Far East Bank. My Dad came with me. But, for the sake of my professional and mature image, he waited in the car, of course! A gentleman at the HR Department interviewed me and promised to figure out what job would suit me. He did call me a day or two later saying that he had arranged a job interview with two AVPs from the Foreign Currency Deposit Unit. He said that they were looking for a bonds dealer. I remember looking up Banking and bonds dealing in the encyclopedia (no google yet!). Anyway, the appointed day came and I met with Blue Florescio and Boots Solano in their office in Intramuros. I cannot remember much except that they did ask me if I had any background in economics. To which I said that my father has a PhD in economics and my younger sister was also an economist working for the NEDA. A few days later, they asked me to meet them at the lobby of the Manila Pen. Blue had one question: why the 2 redmarks in my transcript... well, I said those were Abstract Algebra subjects... as if that explained it all away! Fortunately, they seemed willing to take a gamble on me. They gave me the job! Yippee!
So how did we go from my loving Wednesdays to how I started out in Banking? Well, today is Wednesday. It's been 15 years since I started working. I am no longer into having late fun nights on Wednesdays. As a matter of fact, I am home now, waiting for my adobo to cook, and writing of my memories! Oh.. and I still love Wednesdays!
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