It's That Kind Of Friday

I had a major presentation today.

The client walked into the 2:30pm half inebriated and rather jolly.

We are real close to the deadline for our next quarterly campaign - 16 advertisements, 20 billboards and a dozen more radio commercials. So we've been at a mad rush churning out visuals for him.

On top of this, we have 2 direct mail packages that need to be printed by 2 August.
Well, the second round of ideas got shot down today. Which is like saying Amber Chia is in some advertisement again.

The meeting which lasted 3.5 hours saw the client changing things we (thought we) had finalised a week ago. It ended with the client sitting on the floor of the conference room giving his blue-moon ra-ra speech about the need to think of more compelling creative ideas for the DM pack. Nevermind that he can only afford RM1 per pack. (A Kilometrico pen costs more than RM1!!)

My underwear is in a bind because I don't think my guys deserve to be given short deadlines and crappy promotions to create magic on. Plus clients who squeeze agencies for a super low fee and ask for the mountain (the sort that require us to pump up resources we can't justify thanks to the ridiculous negotiated fee) just don't titillate my tits.

The bean counter that negotiated the damn fee doesn't produce the work anyway.How does he or she know that we slog and bleed over the account at cheap labour costs. "Advertising professionals"? Please. Drop the professionals and replace with sluts.

Anyway, I'm sober and pissed off but I'm drunk on pissed-offness. That's not really the point of this entry, though.

The real point is this - I drove to my husband's office wanting to smash a large Idaho potato in someone's face (no one in particular really, it just feels nice saying it). When I arrived however I bumped into one of his engineers' girlfriend -the one whose tertiary education in industrial design we are funding. (Her father is not only retired but ill and her mother is a homemaker.) When I saw her and hugged her I realised how wonderful God is and i didn't really want to smash anyone with any kind of vegetable or fruit. Because I cheered up instantly knowing that here was someone in need that I was helping, whose life I was making a difference in - my problems looked like cosmic dust next to hers, I mean, imagine not ebing able to study because of $.

I know God gave me this little surprise after a long, tough week.

(I remember being initially enthusiastic about the both of us offering financial help to her but I also remember the doubts that have since occasionally flashed in my mind; they weren't about second thoughts over helping a stranger as much as they were about my worries over our own financial state - I mean, WE AREN'T THE TRUMP FAMILY. Plus we ourselves are just beginning to build our lives as a married couple. What with the new house soon to be ready and my new car (thanks to the thief who stole my Satria), it didn't seem to make sense to give money to someone just like that.

Yet, I know for sure at this moment that we made the right decision to offer our help.