Happy Hour and Short Time

Adelaida Carpio is beauty and brains. She’s tall and sexy. Being sweet and kind she has won the admiration of young and old bachelors alike in the neighborhood, even those who are married. She stands tall and walks like a beauty queen. Last year, she graduated from a leading private university in Metro Manila with a master’s degree in psychology, summa cum laude.

As she was looking for a job, she quickly responded to a job vacancy advertized in a newspaper. A big and reputable company engaged in the production of canned goods, bottled drinks, soaps and detergents, among others, was looking for a branch personnel manager who must possess a master in psychology. Adel, of course, would fit well in the position.

Among over 100 applicants who took the written examination conducted by the company, Adel was the only one who was asked by the Assistant General Manager (AGM) to stay in the examination room when the rest shall have already left. She wondered why.

It was the moment of truth. At the Office of the AGM she was told that she was the only one who passed the written examination with flying colors. She was asked by the AGM to see the Personnel Manager at the company’s main office in Makati for interview.

The company’s building is an ultramodern edifice, with state of the art office equipment and facilities. Anyone who will see the office will have the notion that its employees are highly paid — the company being a leading producer and manufacturer in the industry.

Adel speaks English well — she possesses that distinct accent among graduates of that leading private university, where children of the rich and famous enroll for college and graduate degrees. She speaks clearly like a newscaster for which she was admired by the interviewing Personnel Manager.

She was later informed that she passed the initial interview with excellent rating. As a result, she was asked to fill out a company form which she gave back afterwards to the interviewer. “Congratulations, madam,” the Personnel Manager said, “we’ll submit your application letter, bio-data, test results, and this accomplished form to the General Manager. Probably, you will be asked to report immediately to work.” She was asked to wait for the call of the GM for final interview.

After about an hour, the Personnel Manager was summoned by the GM to his office. Afterwards, she went back to Adel. The Personnel Manager said, “the GM read your bio-data.” And for having read it, Adel was flunked by the GM for her failure to provide the correct answer to the information called for by a specific item. The GM was angered by the information Adel wrote in the space provided for Sex (as in Sex: _________). She did not write therein male or female — but another thing. Guess what was it!

The title of this piece may be mistaken as a common sign or advertisement at a motel in the city. Happy Hour here means laugh time resulting from a joke, and only for a moment.

Going back to the information Adel wrote on “Sex” in the bio-data, she did not put therein male or female. Yes, you’re right. She wrote a honest-to-goodness answer therein. Here was it — Sex: 3 x a day!