Friday, November 28, 2008

A Love-Hate Relationship With Numbers

Over dinner the other night, I was discussing with my kids how i really hate numbers. I hate math subjects like trigonometry, geometry, physics and any subject that requires computation or problem solving. I would suffer nosebleeds. That's why I am wondering how come i have a child who was a math wizard when he was still in the elementary. Maybe he inherited the genes from his father, and totally not from me.
I shared to them that I read a blog from my classmate titled: For Nation Building. I was about to get nosebleeds again, I told them. Why? I was forcing my brain to compute how much he is earning monthly now based from the given: 3.9% of his grand, and the government is receiving 7.8K as monthly witholding tax from him, for nation building, he emphasized.
Wheww. . .nosebleeds, nosebleeds. I quizzed my housemates, particularly one of my college students who's a BSE student, Math major. She computed, based from the given i gave her. after a while, she was snapping her fingers in awe, she was nodding her head in total disbelief. I asked her why. She told me, "Tita, he's almost earning by the six digits, or he's a six digit earner". "Really?", i answered in silent approbation.
At that moment, I suddenly love math, for the sake of computing how much is the monthly grand of my former classmate. Yes, I love math when i have to compute the monthly salary and overtime pay of my hubby. I love math when I have to compute how much will I deposit in the bank. I love math when we are about to receive our extra bonus every end of the year.
But i hate math when i have to compute how much is our total bills on all our utilities and other expenses monthly. I hate math, really hate it when I realized how much is my monthly salary. Nosebleed is no longer a problem, but disappointments in my career, in my life.
I dreamt of being a better person, a professional who's gainfully employed in a multi-national company. A professional who can easily handle a supervisory or administrative position. But look where I am now? I am in a dead-end position. There's no room for career advancement. Finishing a masteral degree is not a guarantee that I can be in a higher position, say a department head.
Thus, my love for numbers only happen when it gives me positive things. And it's the other way around when i will be spending our hard-earned money. By the way, the government is no longer imposing tax on my monthly salary since the other month. My salary is tax free. And it only means one thing, I do not earn that much.

1 comment:

  1. so you love math if you gain something, but you hate math if you are obligued to pay something,..ha,ha,ha,ha,ha,.. for me I love math because it would help me to forget many things, I love math because I could sit in a long hour to solve the problem, I love math because I could figure out how much I could gain something and regain many things, that is how numbers, and figures controls our behaviour.

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