The Sharing Essentials

The Mechanics of Why

"Yes, mom, I will send the money tomorrow..." says Jessie Trinidad with a big sigh. Family. You just can't say no.

"I'm so sorry, anak. If only your dad was in a much better situation than he is in now..."

Jessie's mom is Linda. She Skyped in early this morning from Iloilo City. They talked through breakfast about the predicament Jessie's father is in.

"Mom, you don't have to explain..."

"Thank you, Jessie. Your dad really appreciates all the things you are doing for him."

"Don't you worry mama. Tell dad to do all he can to get well." A tear fell down Jessie's face, smudging her newly-put-on mascara. She groaned slightly at the fact that she had to fix her make-up again.

Jessie looked at the alarm clock sitting at her bedside table. It was already 8 in the morning. A momentary sense of panic began to set in.

"I need to hang up now, mom. I have a meeting at 9, and if I have to beat this stupid Makati traffic..."

"I love you, anak..." her mom said with a slight dismay at the interrupted conversation. She had more to say.

"Sorry, mama, but I love you too. Send my love to, dada. I'll Skype you again later."

Jessie closed off her laptop and began to tear up immediately. She groaned to herself, "No, not now, enough now." She tried to will herself not to cry, but the tears kept flowing. She dabbed her now markedly red eyes helplessly.

Her mascara was now nowhere in sight. She looked at her reflection on the mirror of her vanity table. Despite of all the crying hoopla, she still looked more than okay. Her eyes were easily swollen, but hers were the kind that glowed no matter what situation she was in. Her mom told her that when she was born, she had the biggest brown eyes she had seen in a baby. Her soulful eyes were balanced by the softness of her features. Her face was gentle and devoid of any hard angles. Her hair, which now reaches the middle of her back, is naturally straight. She rarely visits the salon, nor does she puts any effort into brushing it.

Jessie had always been a pretty girl. Throughout her childhood, she was always been regarded like a dainty little princess, not just by her family, but almost by everyone around her.

Which of course, can be a disadvantage too. At 24, Jessie is senior account executive for the country's biggest medical transcription company. In her department alone, she was in charge of over a hundred employees. They have to constantly meet 12-hour turnaround times, and she had to continuously push her supervisors to meet their daily production limits. In short, her prettiness can sometimes get in the way. People misconstrue her as too dainty or too nice. Jessie was far from that. She knew that in this business, if you have to succeed, you have to be ruthless.

Jessie had to constantly act stern. She is the only female senior account executive in the company. To get to where she was, she had to ruffle a few feathers along the way. Jessie worked countless hours and put in Herculean efforts to earn the respect of the partners and the board. If you looked at her now, she looked so far away from the shy, fresh graduate that she was 4 years ago.