Thought That Came Unbidden

that we can put a man on the moon but we can’t make a sidewalk that doesn’t puddle?

Happy 35th anniversary to the Apollo 11 crew!

It’s amazing how easily the human brain is trained, and how long it stays trained. I was listening to music off CD today that, way back in the dark ages <cough>the 1980s</cough>, I’d taped off, yes, a 33 1/3 LP.

Because I tried to fit too much on one side of the cassette the last track was cut off; the tape had run out before the song was over. In listening to the CD I fully expected that song to cut off where the cassette I made so many years ago had cut off despite knowing objectively that the CD was a commercially produced duplicate of the original LP release.

For some reason, this made me smile.

I believe that, with the regularity of a timer counting down to zero, just about every job in the modern world will eventually reduce itself to complete and utter absurdity. This eventuality can be staved off in one of four ways:

1. by doing a job that actually does measurable good
2. by doing a job that you believe does good, whether that belief is based on fact (see above) or on what Tony Kushner calls “revolutionary rigor” (ie: I’m more dedicated to The Cause, whatever that might be, than you are)
3. by doing a job that is comprised of day to day tasks the completion of which you find intrinsically rewarding
4. by giving work its proper weight and perspective in your life

I say “just about” every job because, for the most part, those of us who work for a living don’t actually make anything or do anything really useful (see option #1 above). In my own life I’ve already attempted working a job based on option #2 (hereinafter referred to as my time at The Non-Profit), and I tried working a job based on option #3 right after graduate school. Sadly, this experiment failed as well because I failed to factor in the reduction to absurdity and wandered around blindly confused about how I could love my job so much but hate the conditions under which I was forced to do it.

I fully expected my new job, hereinafter referred to as The Association, to become a farce sooner rather than later given a variety of factors — my commitment to The Association’s work, the lengths to which I have to go to actually physically get there, the fact that any membership organization has within it individuals who are operating under their own agendas for their own purposes — but I just didn’t expect it to happen this quickly.

So, I’m working on option #4, giving work its proper weight and perspective in my life. This is not a new struggle for me. I tried working on this when I was working for The Non-Profit. I suspect I failed miserably because I’d already swallowed option #2 and was doing my level best to prove that I was just as committed to The Cause as those around me. Eventually the hypocrites got to be too much for me, though. After all, what else can you call a “committed activist” who stubbornly insists on self-identifying as a vegan and yet has no problems ordering Pad Thai with shrimp for lunch? (This, of course, being the most egregious example of such hypocrisy followed only by the numerous people dedicated to The Cause who were not only willing but eager to jump on an airplane and fly half way around the globe for a meeting that could have been handled by telephone.)

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away I got some good advice: your job is not your life; your job exists to finance the rest of your life. Somewhere along the line, I seem to have forgotten this but I have to wonder if my expectations for how I am supposed to interact with my job did not get a bit skewed as well.

In my ideal world, it’s not onerous to get to your job. When you do get there, the working conditions are comfortable; not too hot, not too cold, and, preferably, include some access to natural light for, after all, we’re not creatures meant to sit under florescent bulbs all day.

Your boss gives you guidance when you need it and leaves you alone to do your work based on your skills and expertise when you want to be left alone. You’re not penalized for being “difficult to get along with” if you don’t want to socialize outside work with your colleagues but everyone is friendly and polite at the bare minimum.

You’re thanked when you do something above and beyond what’s strictly required of you and when you make a mistake you’re given an opportunity to learn from it rather than punished. And, above all else, the quality of the work you do matters more than who you know or socialize with, or whether or not you conform to some uberboss’ standard for the ideal employee when it comes to elements that have no effect on the quality of your work or the ability of others to work well with you.

Perhaps I struggle with the concept of work so much because the other two legs of my life’s tripod (the relationship and the living quarters) are pretty much stable and in good working order. Perhaps I struggle with it because I decided a long time ago that I wasn’t going to be a parent (that’s an entry in and of itself) and I’ve somehow swallowed that 1980s myth that if you’re not a mom you have to be a ball-busting top executive. Perhaps I struggle because my expectations are unreasonable.

I’m not entirely sure and I don’t expect to have an answer anytime soon.

I have to hand it to the editor who cut the trailer for King Arthur. A lot of talent went into making this film look a lot better than it actually is.
[Read more…] about King Arthur

If you’re deaf and you have Tourette’s Syndrome do you go around randomly giving people the finger?

(Yes, politically incorrect, I know, but there’s a reason this blog is called Thoughts That Come Unbidden Department.)