The magnificent morning which has greeted me today is illuminating in it’s contrast when compared with the doleful spirit which seems to have gripped my imagination as I grope my way timidly through the hours towards my inevitable meeting with my comrades at the “happiness factory”.
I don’t feel sad or depressed. Perhaps a little frustrated. The boredom of work and the stolid personalities which possess my superiors drag me down into a muddle of vexation which fills every sinew and I count the seconds as they tick down on the clock and I realize I am merely a prisoner of the army of time on it’s seemingly interminable advance through the afternoon and into the evening.
It’s quite amazing as the last of the sand runs through the hour glass and we wait in suspended animation for the bundy clock to reach the moment of our release, that we have managed to scrap and strain our way through another eight hours, doing the same old thing yet again and surviving another day just to be able to come back and do it all again tomorrow.
Life is a adventure as they say but, in the immortal words of Jerry Seinfeld, “if I wanted a to experience such a long and boring journey I would read War and Peace!”.
The workplace serves it’s purpose of course but I see so many people there towing the line, thinking they are good employees by listening to the great authority who issue orders from the heavens, pettiness imbuing their minds with an ideal that is so insipid that it does nothing but inspire detestation from those to whom they are issuing commandments and on whom they are trying to impose their pitiful will.
We have supervisor who has worked at the MC since before I started. A long time ago now! He is undoubtedly very good at his job. In fact he is outstanding but he has lost the respect he gained from us all through his good work years ago by his descent into triviality and his volatile nature when the employees he supervises don’t agree with his methods and deem to suggest that things may be done in a better and more efficient manner.
He has been unable to find a balance in the execution of his job between being a pleasant person and a figure of authority and, unlike our afternoon shift supervisor who has shifted his gaze and attitude and become a much more admired figure to us, the aforementioned fellow appears to be wallowing in self-pity, unable to find a line to follow which would see his man management methods be more readily accepted.
He has been ill-treated by the management but still seems to want to intimidate people into working harder when he himself is hassled by the powers that be instead of using a steady hand on the tiller which is the much more effective ruse used by our own chief to greater effect. I don’t know what satisfaction he gets out of the job. Perhaps none which is what leads to him adopting a sometimes loathsome manner.
When the people of whom you are in charge have been employed at the same place for such a long time then the stand over tactics of old are of no value and simply cause conflict and no one with character or a strong moral compass will suffer such behavior. It’s a recipe for disaster.
And the end of the day I simply ask, “is the work done?” If the answer is yes and we have achieved it despite the odd slack moment and the occasional laugh with our friends and comrades then we have done a good job and deserve the thanks of our superiors, something which is all too often absent where I’m from.
We get few favours handed to us in our lives so we have to work for all we want. I accept the fact and think it’s right and the good things in life only come about through enduring the ponderous days of working stale jobs like the one I endure every week.
I would like to earn more money. I would like to do a job which makes a difference. I would like to do a job which is creative. But until the day comes when I can arouse myself from apathy and find a better path, I will keep myself afloat through the constant repetition and daily grind of which I am accustomed.
And I will not live my life through the workplace. The money I make will be used to enjoy the rest of my life with my family and the make the memories which matter and I will look back on in old age and remember with warmth and mirth.
So work does have it’s purpose and though the sun is shining and it’s a day made for walking through the hills or riding a bike until I can ride no more, I will fulfill my duty and destiny and front up again for another day and do my best. And have laugh along the way.
Have a nice day.
I don’t feel sad or depressed. Perhaps a little frustrated. The boredom of work and the stolid personalities which possess my superiors drag me down into a muddle of vexation which fills every sinew and I count the seconds as they tick down on the clock and I realize I am merely a prisoner of the army of time on it’s seemingly interminable advance through the afternoon and into the evening.
It’s quite amazing as the last of the sand runs through the hour glass and we wait in suspended animation for the bundy clock to reach the moment of our release, that we have managed to scrap and strain our way through another eight hours, doing the same old thing yet again and surviving another day just to be able to come back and do it all again tomorrow.
Life is a adventure as they say but, in the immortal words of Jerry Seinfeld, “if I wanted a to experience such a long and boring journey I would read War and Peace!”.
The workplace serves it’s purpose of course but I see so many people there towing the line, thinking they are good employees by listening to the great authority who issue orders from the heavens, pettiness imbuing their minds with an ideal that is so insipid that it does nothing but inspire detestation from those to whom they are issuing commandments and on whom they are trying to impose their pitiful will.
We have supervisor who has worked at the MC since before I started. A long time ago now! He is undoubtedly very good at his job. In fact he is outstanding but he has lost the respect he gained from us all through his good work years ago by his descent into triviality and his volatile nature when the employees he supervises don’t agree with his methods and deem to suggest that things may be done in a better and more efficient manner.
He has been unable to find a balance in the execution of his job between being a pleasant person and a figure of authority and, unlike our afternoon shift supervisor who has shifted his gaze and attitude and become a much more admired figure to us, the aforementioned fellow appears to be wallowing in self-pity, unable to find a line to follow which would see his man management methods be more readily accepted.
He has been ill-treated by the management but still seems to want to intimidate people into working harder when he himself is hassled by the powers that be instead of using a steady hand on the tiller which is the much more effective ruse used by our own chief to greater effect. I don’t know what satisfaction he gets out of the job. Perhaps none which is what leads to him adopting a sometimes loathsome manner.
When the people of whom you are in charge have been employed at the same place for such a long time then the stand over tactics of old are of no value and simply cause conflict and no one with character or a strong moral compass will suffer such behavior. It’s a recipe for disaster.
And the end of the day I simply ask, “is the work done?” If the answer is yes and we have achieved it despite the odd slack moment and the occasional laugh with our friends and comrades then we have done a good job and deserve the thanks of our superiors, something which is all too often absent where I’m from.
We get few favours handed to us in our lives so we have to work for all we want. I accept the fact and think it’s right and the good things in life only come about through enduring the ponderous days of working stale jobs like the one I endure every week.
I would like to earn more money. I would like to do a job which makes a difference. I would like to do a job which is creative. But until the day comes when I can arouse myself from apathy and find a better path, I will keep myself afloat through the constant repetition and daily grind of which I am accustomed.
And I will not live my life through the workplace. The money I make will be used to enjoy the rest of my life with my family and the make the memories which matter and I will look back on in old age and remember with warmth and mirth.
So work does have it’s purpose and though the sun is shining and it’s a day made for walking through the hills or riding a bike until I can ride no more, I will fulfill my duty and destiny and front up again for another day and do my best. And have laugh along the way.
Have a nice day.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 