“Anyone who claims to work 18 hours a day is either lying or stupid.”
This statement quoted to have been said in an online film created by a director in his mid-20s is making noise in the social media community now, but it’s the same statement that came to surface about 5 years ago from an American blogger who has written that about 10 hours after the usual work hours, the body weakens, which adds to the energy that needs to be replaced by the body that actually creates more work for the person than to get any work done.
The longest no-sleep that has been recorded in history is from a person who has not slept for 264 hours, approximately 11 days. In a biological perspective, during sleep deprivation, the body starts to experience high blood pressure, changes in body temperature, heart rate, fluctuating breathing rate, down to a headache, acid reflux, and everything else that points to the neurophysiologic effects: irritability, changes in eating patterns, muscle tension, altered perception, memory deficits, and etc.
In about 18 hours of no sleep or even a dull rest, the body starts to form shadows that are likely hallucinations, drowsiness, increased muscle tension, and everything else that I have mentioned in the paragraph prior to this. The mind weakens, leading it to potentially induce poor decision-making skills, mood variations, and uncontrollable temper that may lead to a bigger dilemma thereafter. However, these effects are disregarded by the majority of the country’s workforce because of the service that needs to be catered by them daily.
In the recent video made by “that” director, it does not only point to the presidential candidate who has then shared in an interview that the average work hours that she does in a day is approximately 18 hours. Knowing the virtual world, it has then collated various hahas and negative reactions. This begs me, and probably others who truly understand the way life works, to question–is it really new for people to hear that there are existing people who set aside sleep just to work for the betterment of their life, if not, the country itself?
To hold on to the fact, the statement really did not come from the director, but the way it was portrayed in the series was not proper either. Although the article where the statement came from seems concerned for the welfare and mental health of the people who are in the workforce, for it advises that one should still design a time for rest, not everyone has the capacity to do that–there are jobs that would only cater salary if based on a hourly performance.
In the video caption, “not a political content” is seen, probably to play safe from the negation of people against their “campaign”, okay, let’s skip it if they want people to cancel that imposition. But what about the statement that was then strengthened by the “trolls”?
It goes out to ridicule those in the healthcare workforce; those who would go for 18-72 hours of sleep deprivation to assist surgeries, monitor patients in hospice, or would go on-call in case of emergencies. They may not have been mandated to do the kind of work, but the passion and love for their craft to perform matters of life-and-death shifts are given, even with the littlest salary. Another, is the media practitioners who are on-standby to collect and deliver news to the public. Whichever collared job they belong to, still, 18 hours would be an understatement, actually.
A number of individuals who work for these kinds of jobs are likely receiving a salary that is even lower than the minimum charge for their skillset. Don’t we think that the least we can do for them is to back their efforts and spare them the insults? It is not stupid for people to work for more than the designated hours. It is just that if you do not move out of your seat, you are likely to not bring anything to your dining tables at home. They do not have any other choice but to risk their neurophysiological health than to die from hunger.
Is it really that surprising to hear a statement that says about one’s dedication to work for 18 hours, when we were conceived by mothers who have not stopped caring and working for our comfortability since our first second in this world?
On a stronger stance, I would like to end it using our known language.
Respeto na nga lang ang libre na pwedeng ibigay sa kanila, ipagdadamot pa. Gagawa na nga lang ng ipapang-kampanya sa kandidato nila, idadamay pa ang integridad at sakripisyo ng iba.
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