Diary of a Salesman
The Actor Turned Door-to-Door Sales Executive — Part I
I am telling you my story. I am telling this now because this Medium is an amazing medium to write my story. The simplicity and the boldness of its typeface — perfect combination.
This story is not about the full-length narration of my entire existence. I tend to make it short, simple and sexy.
Now, I graduated in the year 2006 with a degree in Communication Arts under the helm of the mighty bastion of Catholic pedagogy — University of Santo Tomas. Dubbed as the premiere Catholic institution in the country, UST is the winningest team in UAAP (it’s an athletic thing). I finished my studies with flying colors, an embellishment to my plain black toga which epitomized my four-year infatuation with the ancient Benavidez Library. Aside from my bronze medal, I graduated with the distinction of being one of the school’s Top Library User.
I had this inexplicable obsession with books. I can vividly remember the days when I would roam around the Social Science section (my favorite alley) and caress my fingers on the carefully arranged books. It was as though they were like a divine treasures, there is something with books that enthralled me. It was a pure bliss.
I dreamed of becoming a cinematographer. My fantasy is geared towards making beautiful settings, picturesque stage and striking production designs. I have a terrible mathematical skill that’s why the right part of my brain had been severely optimized. I remember I was obsessing over special effects in movies, the beautiful panning and zooming of cameras, the amazing production designs. I was taught that a beautiful film should be beautiful even if you play it in mute and you can still comprehend the story, or if you can freeze or pause any moment and each frozen frame can tell a beautiful story, just like a beautiful photography.
I also pictured myself as a distinguished actor, a theater actor. I never wanted to be in the television, I feel like TV is an inferior medium. I wanted to become an actor in the movies — Oscar-worthy. I dreamed of becoming the first-ever Filipino to win an Oscar, whether in a directorial debut, a supporting actor or a visual-effects artist. I even have a script in mind, or a thank-you note ready just in case my name would be called as a winner of whatever nomination.
It was then in the humid afternoon of May that I realized that all these fantasies were simply pure form of hallucinations.
My first job entails a supreme grasp of numerical quotient. I remember in one of my first interviews I was asked to describe myself and I boastfully heralded my creative prowess and my ability to stylize everything — to make the simple extraordinary, and make the common unforgettable. Then they told me that the job they are about to offer involves data, specifically a great deal of numbers. That moment was the ultimate.
Morning of August the 2nd in the year 2006, I accepted the offer to become a Management Trainee in the oldest telecommunications company in the Philippines (if you thought of PLDT, think again). I was told by my HR executive brother that Management Trainee is a great position and I never had any idea of what it was. All I know at that time was that I was given an offer that I couldn’t resist. I was probably the highest-paid newly-graduate of my batch. The contract I signed officially started my journey towards becoming a seasoned salesman and eventually forget about my life-long dream of becoming a cinematographer or an actor.
To be continued >>
