Bad Bosses, Caring, and Your Powerlessness

Believe it or not, the following excerpt comes from a TV review. It is, however, without doubt, the most apt, funniest, and depressingly true thing I've ever read about why your Corporate Overlord does not, and will not, ever care about you:

Caring isn't quantifiable and is therefore highly overrated. Human beings may begin work at a new job feeling seen, heard, appreciated and lauded for extra efforts, but over time, the ability of the bossman or bosswoman to exert the energy necessary for such games of make-believe far outweighs the benefits of doing so. After all, two or three years onto the job, you'll be rumored to have a "mortgage" to pay plus "children" to support, burdens that the powers that be recognize will keep you cemented in your cubicle doing shit ASAP, around the clock, the specter of a crumbling economy and rising unemployment constantly stirring up the fear in your heart. Since fear is a far more effective motivator than "caring," no boss-type-person will be holding your hand or expressing their gratitude until you aim a gun at their heads (hence the current popularity of this option). Besides, your bosses are far too busy buttering up their brand new underlings to bother with the likes of you.

To read the full review, check it out here.

Alien probes or my typical day?

It's been one of those weeks, and it's only Tuesday.

I started my week by trying to do the right thing for my floppy, aging body. I got up early and went to the gym with the intention of getting in a solid half-hour of hard cardio.

After dropping my friend at the curb, and cursing the row upon row of film trailers littering Copley Square (and occupying every available metered parking space), I figured I'd ask the cop on duty if he knew how long said trailers would be situated in what I have come to think of as "my parking spaces" outside the gym.

I rolled down my window, politely greeting the gray-haired member of Boston's constabulary with a "Good morning, Officer...I just..." and was cut-off, mid-sentence, when he yelled at me.

Now, given that it was 6:10AM and I hadn't had any coffee (or cardio), I was a bit slow on the uptake. I was also taken aback by the whole screaming at me part of it. Apparently, he wasn't satisfied with his first attempt at communication. He yelled at me twice again, in rapid succession, before I finally determined that he wanted me to move along.

Here's the kicker: The officer had the good manners to cap it all off with, "WHAT?? ARE YOU DEAF OR STUPID OR BOTH???"

Then I made the mistake of going to work.

And, well, let's just say that things only went downhill from there.

So, now, a day later, I'm trying to forget about it.

I'm trying to focus on the the gray and overcast sky. Toward the horizon there is a tinge of eerie yellow light. It makes me think of the "ginormous invading spaceships arriving" montage from the movie "Independence Day".

I've suggested to a colleague that the weird light is, indeed, being caused by ginormous invading spaceships finally arriving as predicted by so many for so long.

My colleague, in turn, thought that given my day yesterday, I send up an S.O.S. and escape this crazy planet. But would I necessarily be escaping? After all, what about those probed-by-an-alien stories you're always hearing about?

Then again, the way my days have been turning out, being probed by an alien might just be more fun.