After I finished college, it didn’t really take me long to establish my penchant for damning “the man.” I remember I was having a conversation with one of my more douchier bosses about how I stopped renting from Blockbuster Video™. I told him that I didn’t like they ran their operation, how they treated their Customer Service Representatives, and simply because they were “the man” of the video rental business. He promptly called me childish and told me people in the real world don’t care about those types of notions. Of course, he was making well into the six figures, and also making him “the man.” I can’t be 100% certain, but I’m pretty sure that he was very much a “damn the man” kind of fellow when he was younger. As I often do, I’m straying off on a tangent.
Somebody stop me.
When I told my friend that I was going to work for Company X, he thought it funny that I was rebelling against my own rebelliousness. I do see the irony in all this. Going to work for one of the biggest “The Mans,” I am definitely straying off my course of corporate avoidance. The thing is, I don’t really feel guilty for taking this new job. For some reason I don’t feel that I’m being untrue to myself in any way. Maybe I have sold out. What scares me more is that maybe douchey boss was right–maybe I was being childish in my outlook on large corporations. Or maybe, and I’m hoping this is where my mind really is, I’ve just come to realize that large organizations though I may not always agree with corporate culture, policies, etc., they have always been a driving force in the development of our species. Whether it be the Church, the Roman Empire, or McDonalds, there have always been organizations that have steered the course of our progress. Maybe it’s just up to people like myself to join in like minded masses to try and move these ginormous behemoths in the best possible directions.
like
I would say that when we were younger we valued those opinions, despite how personal and unimportant they were to others. As old men, we tender our opinions with experience and weigh things against context.
That may have been the most boring thing I’ve ever written.
A lot of factors can sway ones opinion as we grow older. First off, yes, we are wiser and less naive on how the world actually works. Second, unfortunately we are bred capitalists, it’s in our nature, and “the man” epitomizes that actuality. We are also our own worst enemy, due to complacency. We get worn down and just accept the fact the world is as it is, and there is not much we can do except roll with it.
That is where our hypocrisy comes into play. We say we want to do this, or we won’t do that, yet as a species, we eventually give in (this is of course a generalization and is not cart Blanche) and do the opposite or nothing at all.
Then there is the money factor. We all want better things in our lives, and because of the nature of our society, the only way to do that is to immerse ourselves into the corporate state and accept capitalism as the holy doctrine. (Again this is an en masse generalization).
However, there is a silver lining of sorts in this. We tend to learn and grow and make life choices based on our experiances with “the man”. Will I ever work for a Pharma company again? No. I learned a lot about how they work, how they spin the facts, how they influence the Dr.’s an the market. Now I don’t support in them in any way shape or form.
It also gives us the opportunity to discover companies/corporations to which we can respect. I highly doubt, I will work for a company that respects it’s workers as well as WestJet does, that has staying power. I can honestly say there has only been one other job that I had where the company cared for it’s people in an honest way, but unfortunately, they were swallowed up by a bigger fish.
Then there is the people/politics at a company that can sway your decision to stay or go. Currently, the two jobs I have are completely different, (i.e. 7000+ emp. vs. 4.5 emp. don’t ask how there could be a half ; D ) But I am content, and the stress level/BP level is the lowest it has ever been.
To be honest, I could probably go on forever about things that convince us to be ONE with the man, but I think I blanketed it very well here.
I guess to really summerize it, go in with EYES OPEN and leave when it feels like it is encroaching on your soul, taking the lessons you have learned from that company so you can do better next time.
Marque
I should remember to review my comments before posting… I need to make a correction to the following line in paragraph 5.
“I highly doubt, I will work for a company that respects it’s workers as well as WestJet does, that has staying power.”
I forgot a word or two, it should have read:
“I highly doubt, I will be able to work for another company that respects it’s workers as well as WestJet does, that has staying power. They are few and far between.”
Let’s see, was there anything else?
….
Nope, that looks like my only correction.
Marque
brain. overload. can’t. take it.
*mock feint because I can’t actually feint and type at the same time*
*mock fetal position*