A good friend of mine detailed a plan to become "Dictator of the World" a few years ago. His platform was based on a deep-seated idea that nearly ever person he had ever met needed lessons on how to conduct him or herself in pretty much every kind of situation known to exist. He proposed things like tube-tying for women and reversible vasectomies for men until comprehensive parenting courses were completed and certification for procreation was issued from his offices.
At the time, I chuckled or openly mocked him and called him crazy. Now however, I think he may have been onto something. I didn't have the best and most loving environment growing up, but what I did have was discipline. And plenty of it. The kids in my family were -- scratch that -- ARE opinionated and sometimes a little mouthy, but we are on time, we get work done with a perfectionist's eye to detail and we are multi-taskers like you've never seen. In public places we are courteous and do our best not to disturb the flow. I know many, many other people with similar skill sets, who contribute to the world and exercise decorum in most, if not all, social situations. Most of us, complete these tasks with a good attitude and approach difficulty by forging ahead and keeping positive. I think the average person goes for this internally, even if the manifestation doesn't turn out quite that way, ultimately.
Then there are the negative nancies of the world. I don't understand these people. They seem to be shouting "gloom and doom for everyone!" from the rooftops of their miserable shit-palaces. Many of these people are in high places in all different types of industry and it's almost like they operate under the idea that everyone is ultimately going to let them down, so they should just keep the perpetual puss on their faces in anticipation of the impending chagrin.
These are the people who you hear at 9am on Monday morning using words like disappointing, unacceptable and pathetic to describe a group of educated, hard-working individuals as they are sent off into the world to "make it happen". The furrowed brow, the head hung low over a paper of some sort, which is obviously used to record the failures of everyone in sight. Our fearless team leader, ready to let us know how we all suck. And there we all forcibly sit, trying inwardly to muster the desire to skulk back to our cubes and conquer the world, $20,000 at a time. We leave the meeting and carry the tension and dismay with us as we charge ahead. It seems to me that each of us had a decent upbringing with regard to productivity and we've all been able to apply it to life rather well. But week after week, month after month, to take spoonfuls, or gallonfuls of pessimism has got to impact a person. It becomes harder and harder to fight off the message from "the man" without starting to think...maybe I do suck.
So now, Monday seems to crash into the weekend at about noon on Sunday and I fight a losing battle every week not to let my blissful weekend of butterflies and rainbows be shat on by our weekly Motivation Meeting. With inspiring speeches like that, it's a wonder there aren't slit wrists and people hanging by their neckties from light poles littering 5th Avenue, because it can't only be happening here.
I wonder....if those who perpetuate that kind of negativity were to have their speeches recorded and played back for their mothers, would their mothers be horrified and say "I didn't raise you to be like that!" Or should those tubes have been tied pending the completion of the aforementioned classes? I can only imagine what disquiet could have been avoided.....
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