That is an awesome commercial. If I tried to have that good a time at work though, the fun police would come and arrest me. My work hates change and independence, they like conformity and zombies.
Key: You expected TI from me, the penultimate white girl? Heh.
Pos: I think you're full of crap.
Fox: I could do it, and have, but then they just think I have "issues." Of course, I have seniority, so they just tolerate my little quirks these days.
LB: At least you have seniority. They value you enough at your job that they wouldn't care if you danced around and did funny things. I would totally use seniority to my advantage if I had it, haha.
BB: Maybe I am wrong about zombie conformity. I mean walking around thinking the same thoughts as everyone else, drooling, losing my soul, never again seeing the world as a colourful beautiful place...I can see appeal in that.
Fox: It is true, actually. I fall off of my office chair at least twice a year, causing a huge ruckus like half the building has fallen down, and I also swear like a sailor. They ignore it because I crank out a hellalot of work.
But, having said that, I had to suck it up for decades to get to where I'm at right now.
I did it for years in a place where every year equaled seven somewhere else, like dog years.
Sure, you die a little bit inside, but once you get out, you appreciate the next place a hell of a lot more.
As a matter of fact, I won't even hire anyone that hasn't been abused like that, just a little. Otherwise, they walk around acting like this place owes them something and frankly? They should just be fucking happy we have a keg.
I feel your pain, Pos. I have it. I shit out 2 pounds yesterday. I got on the scale this morning, after eating nothing yesterday and doing the happy crappy dance all day, and was 2 pounds lighter.
I hope I have it for 4 more days. That would be like 10 pounds in one fell swoop.
LB: It's very true you have to work your ass off to achieve seniority, but even then they don't always appreciate you. I know my workplace isn't exactly thankful for the work we do. I can't even imagine working somewhere for more than a couple years.
BB: And that is the problem I find with jobs. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part, but I do not believe one should have to die inside just to pay the bills. It perpetuates the cycle of misery.
LB - Get one of those undiagnosable illnesses, like fibromyalgia. Worked for me for years. I'd share my wealth with you, if you lived close by.
I worked at my last job for 7 years. They hired an assistant for me and on her first fucking day she was on the phone with her friends for like an hour. When I called her on it, she said, "Well you make personal calls." It was all I could do not to pummel her to a bloody pulp. You have to earn that shit...some people don't really get that.
No, you learn ways to keep yourself sane and you try to find work that is meaningful to you.
But, in comparison to the bliss of college, no matter how great your job might be, work fucking sucks.
I mean, if it were fun enough to do it for free, they wouldn't have to give you a paycheck now, would they?
But, I do try to do things differently than some of the people who have been particularly soul-killing to me, because I don't want the people who work for, and with me, to die on the inside.
There are times, however, where the idealistic wet-behind-the-ears 22 year old does need to just shut the fuck up and do what she's told, though. Thinking explicitly about the 22-year-old directly across the hall from me at this moment in time, mind you.
LB: Is it so much to ask, really? I mean, I think society would be a lot more happy as a whole if employers would just show some fucking appreciation. I'm not asking a lot am I? Is a simple, thanks for selling 22K this weekend such a hard task? I mean, I make a lot of money for my company, the least they can do is say, thanks. Maybe I am just extremely naive and should hop on the jaded and crusty miserable bitch train. Then I can at least save my brain the trouble of hoping that one day things will change.
Rassles: I'm sure I would be more entertained in an office. With my own desk, staplers, paper clips, pens and a deck of cards...I could make some kickass towers on my desk. And I could draw faces on erasers and use them as people for my cool housing project on my desk.
Fox: I do get you there. that's one of the perspectives I took from working at a police department. At the time, it was a wicked hard, suck ass job that was soul killing. Not for the reasons that you'd think, but just because working with criminals all the time is hard.
But, people really had their priorities straight. We did our jobs, and we had fun doing them. We laughed a LOT, but when it came time to be serious, we were very very serious indeed. We had rubber band wars on Friday, and we told stories and made each other laugh until tears rolled down our faces, and we played practical jokes on each other almost daily. Sexual harassment was normal, and my supervisor once gave me a Christmas card with his naked ass on it.
But seriously, we did a lot of good work, and I felt appreciated and important in a way that people rarely do, anywhere.
So, these days, I try to make work as fun and satisfying for the people I am training as I possibly can, and like my former job, I try not to sweat the small stuff. I think people give you more if you make it clear that they matter to you, as people.
My job is really rather delightful, all things considered. Low pressure, kind people, decent benefits. Only problem really is it's stagnant, so I'm stagnant. If I want more, I gotta go elsewhere.
LB: That's exactly it. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my job, I enjoy doing it and I have a lot of fun. I'll have pillow fights, romp around on the mattresses, play hide and seek in the furniture just to name a few. I laugh a lot, we tell the most raunchy jokes ever and make fun of everything and playfully pick on each other.
It's not even my co-workers or my job that are the problem, it's management. I know how to do my job, I do it well, and everything isn't fun and games, just enough to keep me sane for the day. But anytime we are having a good time, it's like they know you are having fun and it's forbidden. So they send out the fun police, every time. It isn't even just me, when all of my co-workers are feeling the noose, it means something is wrong.
Everything I do is never enough. They never appreciate what you do, they want more, more, more. I had a really rocking weekend a couple weeks go, sold about 31K. Instead of saying wow, what a great job, thanks for all the merchandise you sold...instead I get, so, can you do that next weekend. No thanks, no appreciation, no nothing.
It brings down morale in our department and it's so frustrating. People are more productive and do their jobs better when they feel they are liked and needed and appreciated.
A bunch of years ago, I had the chance to get in on the ground floor of a new company being started by a friend of mine. Best move I ever made. I'm number three in the firm and can do just about anything I want. Because they know I produce in short concentrated bursts punctuated by long stretches of fucking around. But I produce. And my clients trust me and love me.
That commercial was brilliance.
ReplyDeleteI remember when it came out and they had it playing in the store on a loop.
I thoroughly enjoyed, dancing in the aisle with my kid. I bet the people who worked there wanted to kill themselves by the 4th day though.
I wish I were that person in my office. Today, though, if I tried to dance down the hall, my bowels would burst.
ReplyDelete"you can't be in a bad mood while listening to the Spinners."
ReplyDeleteBullshit. Just watch me.
Oh and for the record, I *can* eat one Lay's chip.
That is an awesome commercial. If I tried to have that good a time at work though, the fun police would come and arrest me. My work hates change and independence, they like conformity and zombies.
ReplyDeletePos - You are a man after my own heart.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, I have to confess that the song did put me in a good mood. Or maybe it was the painkiller.
I was expecting some T.I. How can you be in a bad mood watching Crabman?
ReplyDeleteKey: You expected TI from me, the penultimate white girl? Heh.
ReplyDeletePos: I think you're full of crap.
Fox: I could do it, and have, but then they just think I have "issues." Of course, I have seniority, so they just tolerate my little quirks these days.
Gwen:
ReplyDeleteWhat would I have to do to get access to the good drugs?
Not only could I do that at work, but half my office would join me.
ReplyDeleteAnd Fox - what is wrong with zombie conformity? I mean seriously...
Could be worse, the new motto at Mr. Booms' office is "Excellence Everyday"
I think Bill and Ted wrote it.
LB: At least you have seniority. They value you enough at your job that they wouldn't care if you danced around and did funny things. I would totally use seniority to my advantage if I had it, haha.
ReplyDeleteBB: Maybe I am wrong about zombie conformity. I mean walking around thinking the same thoughts as everyone else, drooling, losing my soul, never again seeing the world as a colourful beautiful place...I can see appeal in that.
Fox: It is true, actually. I fall off of my office chair at least twice a year, causing a huge ruckus like half the building has fallen down, and I also swear like a sailor. They ignore it because I crank out a hellalot of work.
ReplyDeleteBut, having said that, I had to suck it up for decades to get to where I'm at right now.
I did it for years in a place where every year equaled seven somewhere else, like dog years.
ReplyDeleteSure, you die a little bit inside, but once you get out, you appreciate the next place a hell of a lot more.
As a matter of fact, I won't even hire anyone that hasn't been abused like that, just a little. Otherwise, they walk around acting like this place owes them something and frankly? They should just be fucking happy we have a keg.
BB: Bill and Ted are consultants these days and got paid $78,000 for that slogan.
ReplyDeleteAnd a pool table, and you can bring your pets in. Oh and it's casual all the time.
ReplyDeleteAlso? Half day Fridays.
Hey the place I cut my teeth in, their motto was:
ReplyDelete(The Name of The Company) = Change
Because they laid people off so often, you had to embrace "change" there.
Betsey: We call your workplace 'The Bar'.
ReplyDeleteSomedays, it's just a little bit like that.
ReplyDeleteYesterday we had a competition to see who could make the best macaroni and cheese.
I was full of crap last week, before I got that intestinal virus that's making its rounds. Now, I am a shell of my former self.
ReplyDeleteBut when I am in a bad mood, only I can get me back out. My wife can't. My kids can't. The Spinners sure as shitfire wouldn't.
That said, I haven't been in a bad mood like that since ... last week when I had that intestinal virus that's been making the rounds.
I feel your pain, Pos. I have it. I shit out 2 pounds yesterday. I got on the scale this morning, after eating nothing yesterday and doing the happy crappy dance all day, and was 2 pounds lighter.
ReplyDeleteI hope I have it for 4 more days. That would be like 10 pounds in one fell swoop.
LB: It's very true you have to work your ass off to achieve seniority, but even then they don't always appreciate you. I know my workplace isn't exactly thankful for the work we do. I can't even imagine working somewhere for more than a couple years.
ReplyDeleteBB: And that is the problem I find with jobs. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part, but I do not believe one should have to die inside just to pay the bills. It perpetuates the cycle of misery.
I worked for a man, put it neary 60 hours a week for him to be treated like shit.
ReplyDeleteIt's why I lost any fondness I had for entire land known as "India".
I just got to work.
ReplyDeleteMy head hurts.
LB - Get one of those undiagnosable illnesses, like fibromyalgia. Worked for me for years. I'd share my wealth with you, if you lived close by.
ReplyDeleteI worked at my last job for 7 years. They hired an assistant for me and on her first fucking day she was on the phone with her friends for like an hour. When I called her on it, she said, "Well you make personal calls." It was all I could do not to pummel her to a bloody pulp. You have to earn that shit...some people don't really get that.
I've been in my field for 19 years now. I never thought I'd last this long. And, now, I'm uniquely qualified! whee!
ReplyDeleteFoxglove writes: "I do not believe you should have to die inside to pay the bills."
Oh, the sweet idealism of youth.
Foxglove, I do not believe working in an office requires that you die inside.
ReplyDeleteOnly boring people get that bored.
No, you learn ways to keep yourself sane and you try to find work that is meaningful to you.
ReplyDeleteBut, in comparison to the bliss of college, no matter how great your job might be, work fucking sucks.
I mean, if it were fun enough to do it for free, they wouldn't have to give you a paycheck now, would they?
But, I do try to do things differently than some of the people who have been particularly soul-killing to me, because I don't want the people who work for, and with me, to die on the inside.
There are times, however, where the idealistic wet-behind-the-ears 22 year old does need to just shut the fuck up and do what she's told, though. Thinking explicitly about the 22-year-old directly across the hall from me at this moment in time, mind you.
LB: Is it so much to ask, really? I mean, I think society would be a lot more happy as a whole if employers would just show some fucking appreciation. I'm not asking a lot am I? Is a simple, thanks for selling 22K this weekend such a hard task? I mean, I make a lot of money for my company, the least they can do is say, thanks. Maybe I am just extremely naive and should hop on the jaded and crusty miserable bitch train. Then I can at least save my brain the trouble of hoping that one day things will change.
ReplyDeleteRassles: I'm sure I would be more entertained in an office. With my own desk, staplers, paper clips, pens and a deck of cards...I could make some kickass towers on my desk. And I could draw faces on erasers and use them as people for my cool housing project on my desk.
Fox: I do get you there. that's one of the perspectives I took from working at a police department. At the time, it was a wicked hard, suck ass job that was soul killing. Not for the reasons that you'd think, but just because working with criminals all the time is hard.
ReplyDeleteBut, people really had their priorities straight. We did our jobs, and we had fun doing them. We laughed a LOT, but when it came time to be serious, we were very very serious indeed. We had rubber band wars on Friday, and we told stories and made each other laugh until tears rolled down our faces, and we played practical jokes on each other almost daily. Sexual harassment was normal, and my supervisor once gave me a Christmas card with his naked ass on it.
But seriously, we did a lot of good work, and I felt appreciated and important in a way that people rarely do, anywhere.
I miss it every single day.
So, these days, I try to make work as fun and satisfying for the people I am training as I possibly can, and like my former job, I try not to sweat the small stuff. I think people give you more if you make it clear that they matter to you, as people.
ReplyDeleteMy job is really rather delightful, all things considered. Low pressure, kind people, decent benefits. Only problem really is it's stagnant, so I'm stagnant. If I want more, I gotta go elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's no keg.
LB: That's exactly it. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my job, I enjoy doing it and I have a lot of fun. I'll have pillow fights, romp around on the mattresses, play hide and seek in the furniture just to name a few. I laugh a lot, we tell the most raunchy jokes ever and make fun of everything and playfully pick on each other.
ReplyDeleteIt's not even my co-workers or my job that are the problem, it's management. I know how to do my job, I do it well, and everything isn't fun and games, just enough to keep me sane for the day. But anytime we are having a good time, it's like they know you are having fun and it's forbidden. So they send out the fun police, every time. It isn't even just me, when all of my co-workers are feeling the noose, it means something is wrong.
Everything I do is never enough. They never appreciate what you do, they want more, more, more. I had a really rocking weekend a couple weeks go, sold about 31K. Instead of saying wow, what a great job, thanks for all the merchandise you sold...instead I get, so, can you do that next weekend. No thanks, no appreciation, no nothing.
It brings down morale in our department and it's so frustrating. People are more productive and do their jobs better when they feel they are liked and needed and appreciated.
Yeah, but at the same time, having sneaky fun is so much more fun than approved of fun.
ReplyDeleteAlso: Foxglove, I do not disagree with you on any point. I've always felt the same way.
ReplyDeleteYes, praise for a job well done would be nice. Just a "thanks, nice job" can change your day.
But the fact of the matter is, it's not a manager's job to coddle. And praise is a luxury, not a necessity. It's shitty, but the way it is.
Love that commercial.. I didn't kow Crabman could look so good all dressed up.
ReplyDeleteA bunch of years ago, I had the chance to get in on the ground floor of a new company being started by a friend of mine. Best move I ever made. I'm number three in the firm and can do just about anything I want. Because they know I produce in short concentrated bursts punctuated by long stretches of fucking around. But I produce. And my clients trust me and love me.
ReplyDeleteEven the ones who don't really appreciate me.
All in all, I envy me.