Saturday was billiards night. At least for my friend Kevin and I, who battled for iced cold beer in a 9-ball challenge. We haven’t played for quite some time so it was a battle royale ala Bata versus Bustamante (we wished). Race to three per set= one round of San Mig Light at Mario’s billiards at Gomez St., Dagupan City. Mang Mario is once upon a time, Dagupan’s top billiard hustler who defeated a lot of professional billiards players for money.

Kevin, a 2005 graduate is currently working in a certain call center in Makati. He described his work as a "cut and paste", "no call", and "just fixing orders" for a US telco with a client base in California. So easy and yet he earns more than his brother, a CPA who works in a bank in Makati.

Yes, the job of the year is working in a call center. Call centers abound in Metro Manila. In fact, some companies do not even require a college diploma as they even hire high school students who are at least average in English communication skills and adept in computer typing. Although this could mean extra income, this could have a negative effect to their pursuit of a college education. Others have given up their studies in favor of work. Is this boon or bane?

By the way, I lost the game 2 sets to 1. Blame it on the beer or the lack of it.