No, I Am Not a "Plain Housewife"

I’m a homebased worker and not a "plain housewife" (a term used only in the Philippines, I guess).

I bet most, if not all, moms who work from home want to say the same thing to everybody.  I also bet that not only moms but all homebased workers want to tell everyone that we are not bummers.  I ALWAYS try to understand non-homebased workers’ notion that we, homebased workers, have all the time in the world to do everything anytime anywhere we want to.  Well, let me tell you one thing:  We are homebased workers, not superheroes.

There are, of course, a lot of perks involved in being a homebased worker.  First, and the most important of all, we don’t have to deal with bosses and co-workers.  We do deal with clients on a daily basis but the thing is, we don’t have to talk to them face to face.  Conversations are all done by phone or by e-mail, preventing us from having personal and professional conflict with them.  Everything is pure business, nothing personal whatsoever.

Second, as an online worker, I get to read articles of various topics like law, religion, and entertainment.  I get to read more than a hundred articles on a daily basis which I all have to finish whether or not they are interesting.  I don’t get to watch the news often but I get to read them...with pay.  Now, aren’t you jealous?  I get paid while reading the papers!

Third, working from home is way cheaper than working in an office.  We don’t need to worry about what to wear at work.  Ever since I became a homebased worker, I have stopped buying work clothes and started buying shorts, shorts, and shorts.  I stopped buying stillettos and have began to love flats.  I don’t need to worry about money for gas, the toll fee, and the parking fee (Now, you ARE jealous, aren’t you, Makati peeps???).

These are only three of the perks.  Yes, there are a lot more but being a homebased worker also has its downside.

First, homebased workers are not entitled to any benefit.  Unlike employees, we do not have vacation leaves, sick leaves, and emergency leaves with pay.  We do not have a human relations officer to handle our SSS, PAG-IBIG, or Philhealth.  We handle all of these on our own.

Second, employees do not pay their company’s electric bill while we, homebased workers, pay for our own energy consumption.  If our computers break down, we use our own money to have them repaired.  We are our own Management Information Systems officer or Information Technology officer.

Third, it’s not true that we are different from office-based employees.  If employees need to work from 8 to 5 and they need to work overtime, it’s basically the same for homebased workers.  We may not need to start working by 8 AM, but we need to work for at least 8 hours to finish the job.  We also work overtime if needed.  Homebased workers are more like commission-based salespeople.  We don’t get paid if we don’t have an output.  In other words, we don’t have all the time to watch TV, to go to the mall, or to do all household chores.  Just like employees, we have deadlines to meet.  We are also providers and we put food on the table.

Basically, we’re not far different from office-based employees.  If they have something to complain about, we have our own share of grievances.  If office-based employees are busy, we are busy too. If they are multi-taskers, SO ARE WE.

So, what am I doing in this kind of job?  Simply put, I love it.  I mentioned this in my previous blog and I’ll say it again, a wise man once said “Choose a job that you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

True enough, it’s like getting paid for doing a hobby. But then, again, I am not a "plain housewife."