I've heard a million times and I've even said to others, "It's just business". It's hard for me as I'm sure it's hard for a lot of people to fight for something they don't believe in. Even so, I've gotten through mentally by telling myself, it's just business. I'm beginning to question whether it's worth it in life to continue to have to keep convincing myself that I don't need to worry about things that bug me- to have a work compartment and then a personal compartment that I operate out of as separate entities.
I've been asked at work to present an idea that is in such poor taste that it made me question if I really want to do a job that requires me to do this. I understand the concept and I get that it needs something to really grab the attention. Still, this idea is just a horrible one. But, I did my research, had all my back up, did a run through mentally of what I would say to the agent to pitch this idea and pitched it like it was the most spectacular idea of the century. It really would've gotten your attention. He was so polite but firmly told me what I knew and what I've been telling folks all along- there's no way these celebs would agree to be in this spot. No matter what cause, no matter how much money, no matter who called them personally. Against my best judgement, I tried to sell this idea like I've never sold something. I tried every angle- every angle! I made our case and was rejected.
Now the powers that be here are questioning if I did everything I could to get this to happen. Continually, that's the position I'm put in from the start. There's no chance in hell this will happen but if you don't make it happen, your not doing your job. And everyone else could do it better because you just don't know how to make it happen. No one sees how short-sided things are either that maybe this works for the short run but it ruins our reputation in the long run.
I guess it's just business. I did my best in trying to sell the idea. They all don't go as we hope. At the end of the day, I have to live with all my decisions. Today, I'm OK because I did my best.
But starting "Cupcakes & Coffee" - my dream business, is looking better and better. Bad taste in cupcakes can be adjusted with different ingredients!!
Today- go get yourself a little treat from your local bakery and support someone's dream. And be nice to your fellow man and animal!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
You're so right! It's amazing how we (society) lose our rational thinking in the face of what something can earn. So sorry you were put in this position, but extremely proud of how you handled it. You're the best, sissy!
Sorry you are going through this at work. I hope it works out for you and the company realizes that you handled it the best you could.
A few years ago a friend of mine gave me a book that had a chapter on how all people are replaceable. I've been trying to find this book to quote it. No such luck. And I also know that there are references to things in several other books I read around that time that blend together. It'd probably be hard to give an author credit for any particular idea anyway. That said I'll try not to write a book in your blog. I've been thinking a lot about this idea - the replaceability of people. Work does that. I have a job that I go to. If I quit - just didn't show up on Monday morning - some people would be upset but eventually they would hire someone else who would do that job. The theory in the book was that all jobs work that way. No matter what you do if you stop doing that job somebody else will do it. There's no point in life to take a moral stand on anything. Because what you do or don't do doesn't matter. We all have jobs. Even if we don't have careers we have other jobs - Mother, daughter, sister, friend, etc. If we stop doing our job somebody else will do it. I put that book down at the chapter and stopped reading. I didn't like it. If I quit my job I'm sure they'd hire someone else and the work would go on. I also believe in capitalism and the theory of supply and demand. I believe that there are some jobs that people don't need to do. And that if enough people stopped doing that job then it wouldn't get done at all. If I didn't believe that the world would seem a little bleaker and I don't know how I'd face getting up in the morning. There are jobs that children don't go "when I grow up I want to be..." There is a man who works at Smithfield whose job is to load turkeys (pigs and other animals) onto trucks all day. As a laborer at Smithfield that's probably one of the least offensive jobs one could probably have. But nobody would say I want to pick up heavy, squirmy turkeys and load them onto trucks for minimum wage all day everyday all of my life if they had a decent alternative option. I imagine that a person would have to be in pretty bad financial shape to accept a job like that. And I can feel sorry for that guy who has that job. As I read the words on the page I did & I thanked God for the job that I had. A few months ago I went to a conference for my work. I sat next to a woman and asked her where she worked. She said Murphy Brown. I said I don't know what that is. And she told me it was the parent company of Smithfield. I regretted opening my mouth. I didn't want to get into an argument with someone at a conference where I was representing my company. At lunch I ended up at her table. The people at the table all talked about what each of us did. She looked me in the eyes and said the words "Most people don't want to work. They want jobs and a paycheck. But they don't want to do the work. They know going in that this is a physically demanding job. But they don't last long because most people don't want to work." I resisted the urge to tell her what I thought. Which would've been something like "why don't you pick up 100 pound pigs (no idea how much a pig actually weighs) and load them into trucks 8 hours a day 5 days a week for $200." Some people suck. Most people probably suck. Some people don't. And some people aren't replaceable. Some people shouldn't be.
Post a Comment