It's a Great Day for a Holiday Luncheon!
**Disclaimer** The following entry is not, in any way inclusive of everyone I work with. Most folks are great and dandy and I enjoy working with them. For the others...you know who you are!***
Today is my company’s holiday luncheon. Outside it is absolutely dreadful! Cold and rainy with darkening clouds and an overall depressing feel to the day. It is making it an unhappy commute for everyone, not to mention a more likely than not, late arrival of the caterers who will be dragging in the office party food and beverages. To say that the weather is putting a damper on things is by no means a way to inject a pun herewith, but to state a fact. Not one person whom I have seen step into work today has looked anything short of miserable. My, what a festive bunch we all are!
To be honest, I could not give a rat’s ass about this gathering. For starters, it’s a huge snooze-fest. Employees spend the better part of the afternoon grazing like cows around the food-laden tables. Most grab their food and run back to their cubicles or offices, grateful to be out of the messy bunch. Then there is the always unwelcome knowledge that they'll be shoving nine floors worth of people (who would otherwise not be caught dead socializing) onto two floors, where the festivities are held. This is hardly appealing. I am already borderline claustrophobic! It is that part I hate, plus you’re expected to eat at this event, while simultaneously standing and balancing food and drink in your hands. No seating is provided, unless your office is on one of the two privileged floors. Don't be jealous, now!
To add insult to injury, you stand around listening to the bull$h¡t praise pouring out from important people of the company in “celebration” of other less important people of the company commemorating years with the company in five-year increments. "An asset to the company..." "Years of dedicated service..." "Moved up through the ranks..." Yadda, yadda! Same schmaltz-y nonsense you would expect. I know! You’re probably already bored. What? You want to hear more? Allow me...
Chances are, though, if I am lucky, I’ll be able to get out of going, all together. Cross your fingers! See, if things work out the same way as always, then it means that my lunch will end up being so close to the end of the event, that it won’t even be an issue. Nor will it be worth going to pilfer what little droppings have been left over by the hungry masses. No, thank you! And, thank goodness!! Besides, I've brought my lunch. (Thank you, Joe!)
The problem with these forced social gatherings is that, while the right side of your brain tells you that is probably a professionally smart decision to attend, the left side tells you that you'd rather chew rocks than show up. There is that element of annoyance that hangs over you because you know that, given a chance in hell, you'd not spend a second past nano with these people otherwise.
Therein lies one of my many, many issues with the Corporate world. Maybe my Momma was wrong when she taught me not to be a phony, or a hypocrite. Nah. She was right. What she didn't tell me was that her way wasn't going to cut in the thick as $h¡t bogus world that is corporate. Indeed! I think that if I were to get a nice, sharp knife and start to scrape away at the layers of counterfeit idiots I have encountered here, you could come back a week later and find that I have barely made a dent in the "system".
Recently, I decided to accept what I have known to be true for quite a while. I am not cut out for this corporate environment. I am not cut throat. I am not willing to crush friend and foe alike just to get ahead. I am not cut out for role playing Monday through Friday to pass for someone I am not. I am not made for the hypocritical existence of every-day life here. It makes me unhappy to force myself to be a heartless hard ass, or a frigid ice queen. In the words of Oprah Winfrey, I am not "living my truth". I think that the ideal environment for me, the one in which I would be most at peace and prosper, involves a serene setting, in a beautiful, warm space where you are welcome to be yourself 24/7. I would add a daily dose of goodness and creativity to the mix, as well. I need the ebb and flow of joy the derives from accomplishment each day. I need the surroundings of other kind-hearted and like-minded people whom I can trust, even when my back is turned and on whom I can depend, even in the tough times. I need to want to be caught out having a nice dinner with these folks, not because I HAVE to be there, but because I WANT to be there.
However, I am smart enough to know that now is not the time to leave a job, if you're lucky enough to still have one. So for the time being, I will quench my creative thirst with writings in my blog, or writings as work or fun for others. In giving myself that small gift, I am trying each day to live my truth, even if it is in tiny little doses.
Today is my company’s holiday luncheon. Outside it is absolutely dreadful! Cold and rainy with darkening clouds and an overall depressing feel to the day. It is making it an unhappy commute for everyone, not to mention a more likely than not, late arrival of the caterers who will be dragging in the office party food and beverages. To say that the weather is putting a damper on things is by no means a way to inject a pun herewith, but to state a fact. Not one person whom I have seen step into work today has looked anything short of miserable. My, what a festive bunch we all are!
To be honest, I could not give a rat’s ass about this gathering. For starters, it’s a huge snooze-fest. Employees spend the better part of the afternoon grazing like cows around the food-laden tables. Most grab their food and run back to their cubicles or offices, grateful to be out of the messy bunch. Then there is the always unwelcome knowledge that they'll be shoving nine floors worth of people (who would otherwise not be caught dead socializing) onto two floors, where the festivities are held. This is hardly appealing. I am already borderline claustrophobic! It is that part I hate, plus you’re expected to eat at this event, while simultaneously standing and balancing food and drink in your hands. No seating is provided, unless your office is on one of the two privileged floors. Don't be jealous, now!
To add insult to injury, you stand around listening to the bull$h¡t praise pouring out from important people of the company in “celebration” of other less important people of the company commemorating years with the company in five-year increments. "An asset to the company..." "Years of dedicated service..." "Moved up through the ranks..." Yadda, yadda! Same schmaltz-y nonsense you would expect. I know! You’re probably already bored. What? You want to hear more? Allow me...
Chances are, though, if I am lucky, I’ll be able to get out of going, all together. Cross your fingers! See, if things work out the same way as always, then it means that my lunch will end up being so close to the end of the event, that it won’t even be an issue. Nor will it be worth going to pilfer what little droppings have been left over by the hungry masses. No, thank you! And, thank goodness!! Besides, I've brought my lunch. (Thank you, Joe!)
The problem with these forced social gatherings is that, while the right side of your brain tells you that is probably a professionally smart decision to attend, the left side tells you that you'd rather chew rocks than show up. There is that element of annoyance that hangs over you because you know that, given a chance in hell, you'd not spend a second past nano with these people otherwise.
Therein lies one of my many, many issues with the Corporate world. Maybe my Momma was wrong when she taught me not to be a phony, or a hypocrite. Nah. She was right. What she didn't tell me was that her way wasn't going to cut in the thick as $h¡t bogus world that is corporate. Indeed! I think that if I were to get a nice, sharp knife and start to scrape away at the layers of counterfeit idiots I have encountered here, you could come back a week later and find that I have barely made a dent in the "system".
Recently, I decided to accept what I have known to be true for quite a while. I am not cut out for this corporate environment. I am not cut throat. I am not willing to crush friend and foe alike just to get ahead. I am not cut out for role playing Monday through Friday to pass for someone I am not. I am not made for the hypocritical existence of every-day life here. It makes me unhappy to force myself to be a heartless hard ass, or a frigid ice queen. In the words of Oprah Winfrey, I am not "living my truth". I think that the ideal environment for me, the one in which I would be most at peace and prosper, involves a serene setting, in a beautiful, warm space where you are welcome to be yourself 24/7. I would add a daily dose of goodness and creativity to the mix, as well. I need the ebb and flow of joy the derives from accomplishment each day. I need the surroundings of other kind-hearted and like-minded people whom I can trust, even when my back is turned and on whom I can depend, even in the tough times. I need to want to be caught out having a nice dinner with these folks, not because I HAVE to be there, but because I WANT to be there.
However, I am smart enough to know that now is not the time to leave a job, if you're lucky enough to still have one. So for the time being, I will quench my creative thirst with writings in my blog, or writings as work or fun for others. In giving myself that small gift, I am trying each day to live my truth, even if it is in tiny little doses.
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