(Through Rose-Coloured Glasses)

Cruise USA is changing course.

President Barack Obama in Wednesday night’s State of the Union address, placed the plight of the jobless foremost among a sweeping new set of economic priorities to pull the country out of recession.

For those lucky ones who still have a job, here are some useful advice.

You have to be a changed man/woman nowadays.

Set your alarm clock an hour earlier than usual. You have to get into the office before your boss. And make sure you leave everyday after her/him.

Don’t attract attention, one way or the other, good or bad. Otherwise the chopping axe may fall on you instead. No more water cooler gossips, nor sided with anyone in the office politics. The casualty may again be you.

Do your work efficiently and quickly, at least with some results to show.

Be polite to everybody, but keep at a distance, and beware of back stabbing. No office romance please.

Take pay cut or hours cut gracefully, accept it readily and with a smile, as if you mean it. Sulk only at home.

Change your work habit. Work like a horse, at all hours, with no complaints, no coffee breaks. Send your boss update emails at night from home, the later (say 1 am) the better.

Submerge yourself. Work, work, work and then more work (or at least look busy).

Because, at the end of the day, all work and no play do make your boss a happy boy or girl.

Stay Alert, Stay Alive.

Yes, in such uncertain time, we have no choice.