Musings on employment

Nobody here ever says anything to me about my lack of punctuality or dress. I've worked myself into a situation where, while not indispensable, my knowledge of and proficiency at my job allows me to get away with coming in just about whenever I want and setting my own slobby dress code without too much fear of negative repercussions. Hell, if I just followed the dress code and improved my attitude, I could easily be really successful at this company. Hey, it's not how well you do your job, but how well you appear to be doing your job. If I just played the game, I could work my way through the ranks of middle management and probably eventually score the ultimate cushy job of upper management. Yet, the race for the brass ring doesn't seem to motivate me. It can't be sheer laziness, can it? Anyway, I'm sure anyone reading this understands at least part of where I'm coming from. And I can hear the inevitable response, "Get a new job, you lazy dumbass!" I have a sneaking suspicion, however, that a new job isn't going to fix the problem. I have a sneaking suspicion that I have deep-seated problem with authority.

However, ours is a nation of laws, be they federal, state or corporate. And we all must abide by those laws if we wish to succeed and prosper.

Now, I'm not saying I'm the last angry man and I am far from a being a rebel. Outside the standard society accepted rebellion of youth and liberalism, I'm Dick Van freakin' Dyke. I've fallen into the trap that society has set for all of us. I begrudgingly show up for work each morning, I put in my 8 hours, and I go home. During my free time, I spend money, mostly on items I don't need, but have an inexplicable desire to own. I am Homo Sapiens Americanus, designed to purchase just enough useless garbage to keep myself happy enough not to revolt. Sure, I derive some enjoyment out of these items. I wouldn't trade away my CD collection for anything. And Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a great game. But I can’t shake the feeling that I have trouble playing the corporate game. I mean, if you’re going to sell out, you should do it right, and go for the big, big money. Why just get the consumerism half of the equation right if you’re not going to aim for the career success and buy the REALLY useless s#!t like BMWs, big screen TVs, and a big house in Suburban Virginia? And, conversely, why bust your ass at your job if you aren’t going to reap the rewards because you spend your life working? And what constitutes a reward anyhow? Is my ultimate goal to sit in meetings, trying to impress my coworkers with a list of my personal possessions, as that is somehow supposed to make up for being soulless jackass? Perhaps it should be? (See? There’s some of that animosity towards management.)

I didn't mean for this to digress into some lame existential screed, but it did anyhow.

Perhaps I should just start a commune in Montana. I hear the sky is pretty big. And everybody likes big sky, right?