Once again, I find myself back in a world that I was none-too-eager to associate with: the realm of cubicle-land, a.k.a., a typical business office environment. True, this is only a temporary position, and within two months, I shall complete my assignment. What's more, the people I work with at this job are wonderfully laid-back, jovial, outgoing, and help support a friendly, fun-filled environment. Yet, are even these desirable attributes enough to outweight the drudgery that is associated with bleak-colored cubicle walls, ancient computers, and endlessly droning-on meetings?
"The meeting", for those who don't know, is a sight to behold: choose an office meeting room, populated with several large, brown meeting tables, semi-comfortable chairs, and stark-white walls. Add in an old TV and VCR on a stand off in a corner, a whiteboard hanging on one wall, and various unhung, uninspired framed posters leaning upon walls gathering dust, and you can imagine just about every meeting room I've ever had the mis-pleasure of being in.
Every Tuesday and Wednesday at my current position, I join other members of this business in weekly meetings. I see people getting stressed out, worried, and just plain flabbergasted, over human-created bullshit. Ultimately, I suppose one could argue that everythng we discuss, from sociology, cosmology, philosophy, etc. might be human-created "bullshit"; yet I would rather consume my time (at least my employed time) with concepts such as philanthropy, creativity, and helping others, rather than become ried in beaurocratic business BS.
Am I being too harsh on the business world? Perhaps. Do I clearly not have a full understanding of economic complexities? Most assuredly. I'm well aware that "business", at least in the sense that I define it (your typical, "Office Space" world of facsimiles, computers, cubicles, percentages, bottom-lines, continuous growth and expansion, marketing, sales, etc.) keeps most of the world's population employed, and busy. Yet ALSO from the movie "Office Space" comes this nugget of advice: "Human beings weren't meant to sit in a cubicle and stare at a computer for eight hours a day." I truly believe this, and I'll bet most others do too; yet why is it so hard to make another reality so? Why do we insist on continuing a society that is built upon shlepping off to the doldrum's of work for 40, 50, 60+ hours a week, being slaves to reports, share-holders, increasing profit, machines, and business suits, instead of concentrating as en entire society on things like solving the world food crisis, healthcare for all, better housing for all citizens, re-constructing the infrastructure of this country (roads, sewage, etc.) solving the energy crisis, reducing global warming, educating the poor, wiping out illiteracy, discovering clean, renewable energy sources, wiping out terrorist cells, exploring the limits of our solar system, and on and on? Wouldn't any and all of these concentrations provide innumerable opportunities for education and employment for the masses? I know they would.
One of the reasons we continue to remain locked in our own little lives, however, and "putting up" with crap-tacular positions, is to "make money" to cover "our necessities". Unfortunately, in much of the Western world, "necessities" go behind mere clothing, food, shelter, health, and security. "Shelter" becomes defined as several hundred-thousand dollar homes; "security" as a car per family member, and then, large, expensive (and cumbersome) SUV's; "clothing" as designer-wear, costing hundreds each; not to mention (of which I'm most certainly guilty of myself) non-necessary items such as the iPods, gizmos, and gadgets of the world. I'm not decrying that we give them up - I sure don't want to - but to just take a step back, a larger focus on them and about them ("them" being any consumer item) and realize that we don't NEED any of them, and when we do acquire them, let's appreciate them for what they are: a tool to use, to achieve certain entertainment, and that's it; not a replacement for happiness. And, do we need 10, 20, 50 "things", when 8 might be enough?
At any rate, this is what goes through my mind when I sit through meetings. What do you think about?
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2 comments:
Ah, yes. Meetings. Meetings at my place of employment usually consist of beer, BS, the occational round of poker, a round of golf if the weather is nice, and let's see... did I say beer?
Most of the people I work with learned very quickly that your typical meeting solves no problems. I've stopped asking for permission to do my job and just learned to make s$*t work and go home at 5!
I feel lucky to have avoided (for the most part) such job environments in the past. However, now that I'm moving back to the Twin Cities I'm wondering if that will change. It seems that in a world where corporations are the largest individual employers, many people have to do at least some hard time in the cubicle trenches. As for meetings, well... it seems to come with the territory.
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