Themed Fridays: "Uniform"

Ingenuity follows no dress code. John, who studied an engineering course in UP Diliman, fell so deeply in love with the laidback dressing style of UP, he brought that same freedom into the workplace.

Normally, people in the office just dress down so low that one would think they were in their own home. We come to the office in shorts, tees, flipflops, and whatnot. Our ex-PM Joel would even come in wearing white, almost-see through Guitar undershirts for that extra dose of laidback coolness.

From time to time, though, a brilliant brainfart comes out of some hazy, calorie-fueled brainstorming session and we think of mixing things up a bit. It was in those moments that Themed Fridays were born.

They happen every last Friday of the month and we all try to dress up according to a theme. Prizes are given to the best dressed mother. Those who don't care too much, well, they won't be allowed in and would suffer a consequence. *insert evil laugh here*

For the first Themed Friday at the new office, the theme was UNIFORMS. Check it out, it will tickle your eyeballs! :)

Oi, mates! it's John as the internet sensation Bogart the Explorer from Davao City!

 Ronil as Holiday Taxi Driver; Scooby as the Phoenix Gas Boy

 Wilma, ever so loyal wearing a standard issue company shirt

 Mancio and Sonito in Ingenuity basketball uniforms

 Baia and Hapie reminiscing their Scouting days

 Bea in a Team Philippines uniform

Brando, errr, June in a uniform that could double as PSG and Bank Teller outfit

Angelo, Riel, Mark, Aljohn, and JC in ADDU boys' uniform

Rock on! Biboy in his usual, all-black uniform (also the "uniform" of that evil clown in the band Slipknot)

Joel flying high in his badminton/table tennis uniform

Bring it on, girls! Gia and Ayra in color-coordinated cheerleader uniforms

Robert, Ronil, Leonid, and Jan in DRIVERS' UNIFORMS and Scooby in a Phoenix gasboy uniform

Grey's Anatomy in the hauz, yo! Ghea, Philip, Kevin G, Kevin M, Koon, and Arik in nurse's and doctor's and lab assistant's uniform

Nothing doing. JA, Andrei, and Jasper woke up that morning and decided they wanted to go to NSTP classes

That age-old fight between good vs. evil! Jez and Pat in pope robes!

Kareem Abdul Jabbar, you ain't. Earvin as the half-hearted baller

Mangatar Mania

Do you, by any chance, look like your mangatar?

Girl Power

The general testosterone-charged atmosphere of the Tech industry is well-reflected in our office. Most of the developers are men boys, and almost all of them exhibit the TNL (Tunay Na Lalaki) gene it sometimes smells like your brother's room up in here.

(Amoy lalaki = a combination of stale sweat, cigarettes, and suspicious bodily fluids)

Why a girl would want to be in this milieu is beyond my feminine sensibilities, but we do have a few good women willing to give these boys a run for their money.

Meet Ingenuity's 10 awesome, kickass chix.

Jaja, Finance Officer, mother of 2, educator, wife

Ghea, HR Officer, nurse, Jill of all trades, dragon breeder and mother of bekis

Wilma, Admin Assistant, mother, student, all-around troubleshooter

Chez and Hapie, Software Testers, students, singers, office screamers

Bash, Software Tester, student, heavy-drinker

Baia, Software Developer, Chinese Mafia boss, educator, Broadway connoisseur

Ayra, Software Developer, KPop sensation, sexual relations therapist

Gianina, Software Developer, Neneng G, cat lover, late comer

Bea, Project Manager, mother, cigarette provider, hugger

And of course, there are those who, by virtue of their hair length, have been inducted into the list.

Coz they ain't afraid of whippin' their head back and forth like only a woman can.

Awesomesauce

Several psychology professionals will tell you that working a high-stress job in a milieu like the IT Industry makes one prone to burn out faster.

So what do we do? In this fast-paced life of codes and tickets and issues and troubleshoots, we are just about thisclose to combusting. So we cool off in the coolest ways possible.

1) We go crazy a little bit.

It is rather pointless to resist the urge, so we give in to it. One minute you're coding in peace, the next minute, you're laughing by yourself at absolutely nothing. Cray, but hey, whatever keeps you on your rocker for the long haul.

But you need not enjoy it alone. Just look around for the nearest friend and you may bawl your eyes out, freak out a little bit, and talk shiz about absolutely anything. Let it all out. Chances are, somebody around may know the solution to your problem so don't hesitate to share.

2) We take power naps.

Obviously, it is our preferred drug of choice. No matter the time or place, as long as there's a comfortable nook or cranny we can rest our tired, sleepy souls in, we carpe diem the hells outta it. Forty winks, and bam! Good as new.

3) We play.

This is our newest toy. Random pingpong games in between coding sprints are always happening, eliciting weird screams and tennis grunts the likes never heard from a human mouth before. 

The games aren't always friendly, as ninjas are rarely peaceful creatures; but you can bet they are always funny if only for the weird sounds emanating from them. Sharapova's grunts have nothing on theirs. (This is especially true if any of the testers are in on the game.)

Any game will do, as long as it's fun...and screaming and laughter are requisites.

And oh, did we also tell you our office comes equipped with an Xbox? Now, who is up for a game or two of Tekken?! :D

4) We hangout.

After marathons, at the beach, in the office, out for dinner, the movies. We hang out a lot to blow off steam. We are no longer just "co-workers" or merely "officemates" here. We have forged friendships, become each others' support systems. To put it more succintly, we are like a family. (John's our dad coz he always pays for stuff.)

When you look at the people you work with with the same fondness as you do with family, chances are the work environment becomes like home --- a place where we all feel warm, safe, and comfortable. It gives us a sense of well-being that gives us confidence in our work, making us energized and more productive.

Hmmm, I think we are on to something here.

5) When the going gets tough, the tough eat...and drink...and be merry!

There is nothing so comforting in this world as a bottle of below zero beer and a plate of hot, sizzling pork innards, sauteed in a sweet-spicy mixture of good stuff shared with fun people.

Sure, booze could make you do crazy things, (right, Bash?) but more importantly, they could make you forget about that roadblock you encountered in your project, that nagging girlfriend, that weird shyness you feel when you're sober. It makes honest people out of all of us; the butt of all jokes the morning after.

Food also make great, fun memories.

For example, ice cream and pizza will no longer be looked upon as just random junk food. To us, they are the happy, welcome punctuations on an otherwise code-heavy training session.

And lechon would mean a reminiscing of moments of birthdays and beach outings.

So we stuff our faces, justifying that that extra cup of rice would contribute to more fond memories, nevermind what it contributes to our waistlines.

6) We sing our hearts out.

Rather that go all batshit crazy and scare strangers witless, we prefer to bust out the moves on the microphone. Bring it the shizzle on!

7) We have crushes...

...because we love that ticklish feeling of random romantic cheap thrills.

8) But ultimately, we still end up doing what we do best.

To keep at it even when it's a deluge outside and you're stuck in a cafe with all possibilities of being flooded in is a fat chance.

To keep at it even when you just feel like chillaxing the whole day.

To keep at it even when you had to sleep on the floor in the office just so you could work the whole night then wake up in time for stand-ups in the morning.

To keep at it even when you don't know no jack about what you're doing.

And to keep at it even when the odds are great and challenges keep popping up.

Coz we are rockstars and we kick ass like duttt. ;)