Work Sucks... Or Not
This afternoon, I spied a license plate holder in the office parking lot which stated "Work Sucks... But I Need The Bucks." At first I sniggered. For all of about half a second.
My brain then kicked in and protested deeply at the fact that there are people populating the workplace who simply don't care about what they do. The software they write means nothing to them, except as something they crank out just to pay their cable bills.
Am I alone in the world thinking this is incredibly shocking? The people who construct mechanisms through which everyday commerce transacts only do what's good enough not to get their behinds fired. They will not strive for the best. Because you and I are simply not worth it.
No pride, no care, no effort, just "Me, Myself, and I." How rude. How disrespectful. How utterly disgusting.
Have they ever considered the following two options?:
1. Work sucks because they suck.
2. Work sucks but that doesn't mean their work has to suck.
Nope. They've just given up and become white collar burger flippers, taking orders through glazed, expressionless faces and thinking no one will notice if they use a bun that dropped on the floor.
You may believe, on the basis of the ranting that you witness here on DWMZ, that I am one of those people. I admit that the content here could, at first glance, be classified along the same lines as the garden variety "I Hate My Job" blithering found in fine corporate workplaces everywhere, but here's the difference:
I care very deeply about what I do. I want to be surrounded by people who care too. There is nothing more important to my working life than striving to create the finest possible output representing the greatest value to the end consumer. Nothing beats getting a job done right, whilst being part of a team that gets to laugh and build cool (and beautiful) stuff together every day.
My frustration lies in the fact that I can't find the love in IT these days. Nonetheless, just because I'm heartbroken at the state of affairs doesn't mean I'll ever stop trying to care. You'll never catch me spitting in my use cases.
Work doesn't suck... It's the people preventing good work getting done who suck! And they're the ones who think work sucks - because doing it properly is just too stinking hard.
My brain then kicked in and protested deeply at the fact that there are people populating the workplace who simply don't care about what they do. The software they write means nothing to them, except as something they crank out just to pay their cable bills.
Am I alone in the world thinking this is incredibly shocking? The people who construct mechanisms through which everyday commerce transacts only do what's good enough not to get their behinds fired. They will not strive for the best. Because you and I are simply not worth it.
No pride, no care, no effort, just "Me, Myself, and I." How rude. How disrespectful. How utterly disgusting.
Have they ever considered the following two options?:
1. Work sucks because they suck.
2. Work sucks but that doesn't mean their work has to suck.
Nope. They've just given up and become white collar burger flippers, taking orders through glazed, expressionless faces and thinking no one will notice if they use a bun that dropped on the floor.
You may believe, on the basis of the ranting that you witness here on DWMZ, that I am one of those people. I admit that the content here could, at first glance, be classified along the same lines as the garden variety "I Hate My Job" blithering found in fine corporate workplaces everywhere, but here's the difference:
I care very deeply about what I do. I want to be surrounded by people who care too. There is nothing more important to my working life than striving to create the finest possible output representing the greatest value to the end consumer. Nothing beats getting a job done right, whilst being part of a team that gets to laugh and build cool (and beautiful) stuff together every day.
My frustration lies in the fact that I can't find the love in IT these days. Nonetheless, just because I'm heartbroken at the state of affairs doesn't mean I'll ever stop trying to care. You'll never catch me spitting in my use cases.
Work doesn't suck... It's the people preventing good work getting done who suck! And they're the ones who think work sucks - because doing it properly is just too stinking hard.
posted by Little Green Potato at 7:47 PM
5 Comments:
It's true, you just care too much.
I'm struck by the common themes between this post and the one directly preceding it. You see, if you keep on caring like this you're going to find you've become an A-lister.
That's because of two things. 1: of the 0.1% of people who have our (and by our I mean your) education, opportunities, etc. about 0.01% of them actually care. That's...errr...times, divide, decimal...a very small number indeed. And only those who care will actually bother to do non-sucky (that is, genuinely good) work.
2: genuinely, truly good work cannot be sullied. It cannot be stolen by wicked managers, it cannot be beaten down by horrific revisions or glossed over in bland reports. It cannot be overlooked. Truly good work cuts through all workplace darkness. It may take time, it may walk a winding course, but eventually it will be seen. Like a lighthouse on a stormy night, it will shine back to you! Not like a lighthouse, actually, because you're meant to avoid them so you don't hit rocks. But that's not the point.
So keep on blogging, keep on working, keep on caring about the whole damned thing. Because eventually it will count for you. And even if it doesn't, it's the only thing that really matters anyway.
Phew! That vodka you gave me is really good!!
I'm ready for the world of politics now. I've bought off my first person!
OK, but let's see how I respond to your rhetoric when I'm sober.
miss potato, david is right. I've come to realize that everything is like what you wrote. I complained about it in retail management, then in IT, and now I was given awards from a prestigious university announcing me a "highly qualified" teacher, and those that barely passed the program have jobs.
I'm sitting here on a Thursday morning reading your blog (and now wishing I had some good vodka) rather than setting up a classroom.
Bitter Critter is out and sniffing the ground - it is never going to change. The world is made up of People Who Don't Care, and the ones that do care, because they care, just end up frustrated.
Keep on being frustrated, girl!
Amen to that miss t!
P.S. "david is right" - a phrase that has never been uttered before...
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