April Blues

Hmm..hm..judul April blues kayaknya tepat untuk curhatan kali ini. Tepat-tepat enggak sih...Coba bayangkan, bekerja itu kan kadang terjebak rutinitas, mengerjakan hal yang itu-itu saja...Nah..nah..nah...April tahun ini berbeda sekali Saudara-saudara...Yup, tepat! Tahun ini tahun Pemilu, taunnya para politikus atau calon politikus atau mantan bakal calon politikus (lah kalo nggak kepilih jadi anggota dewan kan mantan bakal kan?) sibuk cari pendukung..

Bulan kemarin saat gw pulang kampung (beli rumah dari hasil jerih payah "mencangkul" dan keringatan di negeri orang huahaha), terkaget-kaget loh liat baliho caleg segede-gede gaban lengkap dengan foto-foto seribu gaya yang bikin cengar-cengir, blom lagi kalo baca "promosi diri" caleg-caleg itu (dari yang wajar sampe yang super duper narsis!!). Terus mikir deh, setelah rampung, tuh kain bermeter-meter buat apaan yak? Kalo salah satu pendukung Obama mendaur ulang barang-barang kampanyenya, apa yang akan dilakukan oleh para pendukung caleg di Indonesia? Hihihi..gw inget dulu pernah liat seorang bapak-bapak pake baju bekas spanduk merek rokok...(mm...mm...lucu juga kaleee kalo ada seseorang pake baju bekas spanduk caleg..atau aneh??).

Trus...seriously, gw baca analisis tahunan Menko Perekonomian, yang menyebutkan bahwa musim Pemilu merupakan saat yang sangat membantu para perajin di sektor tekstil dan garmen (kaos kampanye, spanduk, baliho bo!! yang pesenannya bisa ribuan), ditengah-tengah situasi ekonomi dunia yang buruk gini. Bener juga sih..

Buat pak polisi, musim kampanye mungkin bikin gondok, setali tiga uang dengan gw dan keluarga gw dan mungkin beribu keluarga laeeeen..Maceeeet dimana-mana. Beneran, gw cobain pergi ke kantor pos besar di Bandung, yang lokasinya deket Gasibu. Pas hari Senin (Senin, bukan Minggu sodara-sodara) lapangan Gasibu dipake kampanye salah satu partai papan tengah...dan jreeeeng...gw dan adek gw jadi kebingungan cari jalan menuju kantor pos, karena macet hehehe...

Back to my office: kantor gw terletak di salah satu kantong konsentrasi WNI di luar negeri. Nah, jadilah kantor gw ini mirip kantor kelurahan pas mo Pemilu sampe beberapa minggu pasca 9 April. Gimana enggak??? Logistik pemilu datang dalam jumlah 8 ton!! Sebelumnya dalam rangka sosialisasi (biar ga dituduh lazy dan tak mensukseskan "pesta demokrasi") gw dan temen-temen sekantor jalan ke tiap konsentrasi BMI kasih pengumuman, bagi brosur pemilu dan pendaftaran termasuk cuap-cuap jelasin tata cara pendaftaran dan cara mencontreng yang bener!! Haus dan panas deh ah...seringkali empet juga kalo liat BMI yang egepe dengan kami ini...(dikira sales salon kecantikan atau sales kartu telpon) jadinya mereka super cueeek..asem....huuh!! Atau ketawa-tawa kalo ada yang polos bertanya dan kasih komentar lucu tentang Pemilu..

Trus-trus...kita masih harus mempersiapkan logistik itu..dan jadilah para staf di kantor kami mirip buruh pabrik rokok huahahaaha! Melipat kertas suara (kebayang ga tiap ketua KPPS di HK harus tandatangan masing-masing 16 ribu kertas suara?), memasukkan ke amplop, ngelemin amplop, ngiket amplop per 20 lembar, masukin ke karung, bawa ke kantor pos hihihi...Maklum, banyak WNI di wilayah akreditasi kami yang memilih lewat pos. Akibat sampingan: seluruh pegawe di kantor gw lembur tiap malam termasuk Sabtu dan Minggu...Wah...kebayang deh, "kerjasama yang erat" antara kantor gw dengan kantor pos Hong Kong. Dihihihihi...kantor pos Hong Kong "berjasa besar" menyukseskan Pemilu Indonesia!
Tahap berikutnya: menghitung suara yang masuk lewat pos, dengan akibat sampingan serupa: lembur bo, no weekend dah! Bukain amplop yang dikirim balik, mendata pemilih yang kirim balik, menghapus data yang dah ga valid lagi (kalo ternyata no such person...ato ybs terminated by her employer...), ngitung suara satu-satu..kalo salah harus ngitung ulang..., dan akhirnya kasih laporan resmi ke Jakarta. Akibat sampingan kedua: merebaknya penyakit di kantor kayak pilek, pinggang pegel, pundak linu...dan berat badan naik 2 kg huahahaa! (lah iya lah...duduk bukain amplop, teriak-teriak ngitung suara per lembar dari jam 6 sore ampe 11 malam tiap hari selama hampir 2 minggu dan makan malam berat). Sekarangpun pundak kanan gw masih sakit pasca bikin data hasil perolehan suara tiap caleg...(damned mouse!! hihihi...)

Sekarang istirahat bentar...sebelum logistik pemilu pilpres datang. Temen gw yang jadi Ketua KPPS dah mulai panik lagi...(huhuhu...tandatangan 16 ribu kali lagi per orang), bengkak deh tangan..Gw dah mulai ditelpon-telpon lagi nanyain Pemilu Pilpres...(bikin blues beneran deh...). Kebayang di mata ngelipet, masukin ke amplop, ngelem...pendeknya berulangnya siklus pra 9 April!!

Our most sincere and simple hope and expectation to they who will become "our representative" in the parliament: Please..plis..plis...behave, do work hard, do represent your people. Kami ga butuh kok dikenang dan diinget...cuma..nih..jangan sampe kalo datang ke tempat kami di negeri seberang minta dilayani dan minta yang aneh-aneh..bikin kalang kabut...bikin malu...bikin sengsara rakyat sendiri...apalagi dengan kalimat sakti: "saya ini anggota dewan..." duh!! gaaaaaaa...!!

Freakin' Me

It has been several weeks since the so called "Pesta Demokrasi" ended, plus the "encores" of course, I mean: three weeks of compiling statistical data, tabulation, backbreaking counting etc..etc. Nevertheless, it doesn't mean that I can go in my free weekend times. During the "hell weeks" of Pemilu I (and my colleagues) did not have luxurious weekends for almost 2 months; Saturday and Sunday were weekdays for us.

Every two weeks, 2 part-timers come to my apartment to cleaning and tidy up. Every time they come, by coincidence I have to go to the office or to attend invitations from various organizations. At first, they thought I have a bizarre office policy...(yup, imagining that someone has to go to work almost every weekend...). Then, both of them do not care anymore...until last week. One of them asked me innocently why I stayed at home on Sunday...duh!!

Later I decided to take a stroll around city...since in my sense I would be a hindrance to the cleaning ladies at my apartment if I stayed home. Yeah..why not, I needed to clear my cloudy brain and pump up my mood for typically blue Monday hahaha! On the way to my destination, I called my mom in my hometown...faraway...The first sentence of her was: " Are you in the office?" When I answered her that I was taking a leisurely walk, she kinda confused..."You usually have to go to your office, don't you? Why is it different today.." she said. OMG...c'mon mom...even my mom thought that it was kinda bizarre to know that her daughter had a free time this time...

In short, I have my "me time" that day..alone...I went to the shopping mall, to a popular tourist destination that jam-packed with foreigners (hahaha..count me on, I'm a foreigner also in this place), than ended with watching a movie. I don't mind to go everywhere by myself, actually..even to go to another country. But, my female colleagues think that this so called "my distinctive habit" is unusual for a woman. In their realm (probably, I don't know) they'll need a company...Of course, being with somebody in your spare time would be great..the more the merrier...But, why should I cancel my plan to go to a cinema, hiking, window shopping or just take a stroll if there is nobody available as my companion? hahaha..maybe my female colleagues think that I'm a freak...doesn't matter actually...

Yeah, it's cool to spend your weekend alone..in this country where I've been assigned for almost 3 years. Literally stroll everywhere: museums, countrysides, beaches, parks, theme-parks, cafes, shopping malls...from morning to the night. But...I'll not do it in my own home country. Man..seriously, to imagine that I have to go home at night in my own country, really freakin' me out!! Even to imagine that one day I have to go back to my own country when the assignment accomplished..makes me anxious. I have a bad experience with the public bus in my home country: I witnessed a pick pocket snatched something from a girl pocket ( I almost became a victim also once)! I experienced meanie-street performers...they will make agitating gestures towards someone who do not give them change...

Freakin' me!! aaargh...!!