Boredom happens to anyone. It's a fact. No matter who or wherever you are, there will always be a time that you don't actually have anything to do (aside from breathing). Or you get tired of doing things over and over again.
When you are working on board a vessel, boredom is quite worse than when you are working on land. Imagine floating in the middle of the sea seeing nothing but water and clouds for days. Imagine talking to the same person and hearing the same stories for six or nine months. Imagine people watching the same movies again and again that you can already recite the script of the characters. Imagine eating the same food for weeks.
Things like that will continue to pester your very existence and then you'll arrive to the point when you can say that sea life is boring. That your job sucks. And eventually, that you are losing your mind and a little more things will turn you insane.
Of course you will go nuts if you keep on thinking on how boring it is to be a seafarer. Therefore, you have to find a way to make your life for few months at sea a little bit exciting, or if not, less boring. There are books that you can read, games that you can play and areas where you can do some workout. You can also do some music jam (most of the ships have band set) or belt "My Way" to your heart's content without fearing for your life.
Most of all, there is the Internet (thanks to the technological advancements in seafaring). You can browse, chat, share pictures, post videos, send message, among others. Some ships have strong internet connections that you can even make video calls to your friends or family at home. Sadly, younger generation of seafarers nowadays prefer to stay inside their cabin and face their laptops most of the time than to interact with other crew members.
Anyway, I already mentioned several things that you can do on board to make your time worthwhile. If those things are not enough, you can do the following when boredom strikes:
1. Take a selfie, duofie or groufie. Let's face it. It's fun posing for the camera. You might project a serious face, a wacky one or both, but you enjoy the idea of taking pictures of yourself. You may get tired of your crew mate's faces but keeping some photos with them will make you remember your days together and will provide some crazy throwbacks in the future.
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| Duofie pa more! |
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| Alamin kung sino ang original bearer ng "The Mole" |
2. Organize a pool party. Make sure to get the approval of higher officers especially the Captain if you are going to organize a pool party. You can also ask the galley department to prepare some drinks/foods. If approved, take off your clothes and dive. Anyways this is applicable to ships with small swimming pools. Don't ever dive if there is none. Ano yun adik lang?
3. Grow an indoor plant. For those who love plants, you can try your luck growing a small plant inside your cabin as long as it is not an endangered species, something that brings disease or a coconut.
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| Dati tatlo lang ang dahon ni Panfilo. Ngayon siyam na! |
4. Encourage your crew mates to show their talents and make impromptu shows from time to time.
5. Make a music video. If you come across the latest dance craze or trending songs, why not make an MV or record yourself while lip syncing? Below is our version of Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) by Silento. Note: No animal was hurt during the shooting process nor any international law was violated.
I only mentioned five here but there will always be a thousand ways to do when you feel that boredom is engulfing most of your head. All you need to have is a part of humor, a part of resourcefulness, a part of pakikisama and a perspective of positivism that is innately a Filipino trait that makes us smile despite the odds converging against us. So boredom? Bring it on! I definitely have a lot of tricks to counter you. :)
