Ji Na Khananisho
Bio
A wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a colleague and an aspiring author. Adore David Foster Wallace, Charlotte Bronte, Thomas Hardy and Khaled Hosseini. And lastly, I am the happiest logophile and logomaniac you will ever meet.
Stories (5/0)
Getting Fired? Ex-Marine Told Me He Cried and Sought Therapy
Just by a show of hands, who does all of the following?: Who, as a newly-minted graduate, signs a 30-year mortgage with 5% down payment for your very first condo, across the street from your new workplace even before your orientation is over, after persistently convincing your spouse that it is the right thing to do? Who volunteers for overtime shifts whenever your boss asks you? Who tries to wear different hats all the time that are not even described under qualification and responsibility sections for the position you applied, such as cleaning, checking inventories, fixing stuff around where no one cares to look, and etc.? Who actively asks your boss for feedbacks and what you can do to "not get fired" and to prove that you are a valuable asset to the company? Who obsessively thinks about how to improve yourself for the good of the company even on your off-days and willing to change your lifestyle for the benefit of the company? Who tearfully agrees to drop out of school when your boss half-threateningly asks you to and focus on work for at least another year (just a year? Wink, wink.)? After that meeting, although you still end up not dropping out and successfully graduating from graduate school many years on time, who had to keep that a super-secret, like how it is in North Korea, and was never able to use "I have 3 papers due this week and 4 final exams next week" as an excuse because, from their point-of-view, you already dropped out? Who verbalizes to your boss how grateful you are even for the meager paychecks and no raise or bonus in sight because you work for the experience and opportunity and not for the money? Who goes out of your way to complement your coworkers on their successes and achievements, small and big, especially in front of the boss, by saying, "You are my role model!" without any of them being seemingly appreciative of your gesture.
By Ji Na Khananisho2 years ago in Confessions
How Do the Homeless Wash Themselves?
Whenever I drive by the homeless people in tents or covered with thick, dirty blankets under the viaducts and slouching over in the corners of dark streets, I always wonder how they will wash themselves tonight. Most people who are not familiar with how the homeless live, they can easily say, "Oh, they go to homeless shelters to wash!" The answer, my friends, is not that easy. As a former homeless person, I will tell you how difficult it is to even get into a shelter.
By Ji Na Khananisho2 years ago in Confessions
Why I Never Recommend Young Adult Fictions to Young Adults
I have long known of fame The Giver (1993) by Lois Lowry garnered from all over the country. I have been meaning to read it for at least over the past two decades. What I did not know was that this book actually falls under Young Adult Fiction (YA) genre, the target audience being between the ages of 12 and 18. By the time that realization dawned upon me, I was already halfway through the book. Looking back, I should have known better. I had some inkling when I started reading the first few pages. I started experiencing this inexplicably weird sensations, such as having knots in my stomach, numbing, diffuse bouts of headache and irritability caused by having to fight against the urge to put the book down. Not only that, I was crinkling up my nose and shaking my head more often than I could care to count. Unbeknownst to me, somehow in my twisted, dystopian world, I was subconsciously talking myself into believing that the plot will turn out to be more complicated and insightful than what I had read so far, so much so that only mature audiences, like myself, will be able to understand. How utterly, undeniably wrong I was!
By Ji Na Khananisho2 years ago in Education
What I Want at 35 and Beyond
I am 35. The main focus here is not "I am" but "35," now that my ethnocentrism years are long gone and my grown-up mentality is starting to kick in. Dang it! I just said "my" twice already even after telling the readers to ignore this "self" here who is sitting in front of the keyboards trying to actively think hard in the midst of feeling completely separate from every entity in the known universe but from "I."
By Ji Na Khananisho2 years ago in Confessions
Loneliness is the Fuel for Success
I am a lonely person. I have always been and I always will be from what I can tell. How lonely am I? I read every spam and junk email. I accept every friend request on Facebook and still have about 40 friends. I talk to telemarketers and go on to explain at great length why I cannot afford to apply for a personal loan right at this moment. I donate my blood whenever there is a blood drive coming to my neighborhood because they always call me and even leave kind voicemails. When I am texting, I respond to every comment and react to it by sending myriad of emoticons and GIFs. My text box is almost always the very last one left unanswered in the thread to signal the end of the conversation for the day.
By Ji Na Khananisho2 years ago in Psyche
