q&a
August 24, 2006

Question:
Why do I have to give up my lunch hour�my time, which no one is paying me for�in order to go to a chain restaurant I don�t like, to eat a meal I don�t eat, and not smoke, and �socialize� with co-workers (not friends, not family, not people I give a rodent�s rear-end about) and bosses (which helloo, even worse!!!!) and be miserable for at least two hours?

Answer: Because I have to be a good sport and a team player and all that happy horseshit. To borrow a phrase from Daisy Gamble , a �go-alonger�.

As much shit as they give me to do, as much responsibility as they dump on me, and as unreasonable as the deadlines are�this forced socializing is by far the worst aspect of my job. Sure�eventually, I�ll get my boss trained to understand that I don�t do that stuff. And then? They�ll stick me with a new boss, and it�ll all start over again.

I was watching Dead Like Me the other night�the one where George/Millie leaves Happy Time, and they throw her a big party. And she feels like she�s being tortured.
I can relate. I know that feeling all too well.

You feel tortured, and punished, and imposed upon. And trapped, because you just can�t get out of it.

But once again�why do I have to be the one who is understanding of the feelings of others, and go along with shit I hate because �people just don�t understand why you act that way�? Why do I lose? They are just as much beyond my comprehension as I am beyond theirs, but I am consistently the one who has to modify my natural behavior to accommodate their dainty sensibilities.

Anyone can tell by the above screed that I am once again roped into a corporate function of the type that is mandatory without being called mandatory.

And I�m ever so nauseous about it. So maybe that will just have to be a sick day.