Blueprint

I just realized it. I dont like it. For so long I was part of the working class, happy to take a vacation here and there, happy to have a job, happy to take on others responsibilities? < senseless Happy to come to work to be picked apart to keep my salary low <senseless Happy to pretend that IT WAS WHAT I WANTED.

It's not what I wanted. I went to school to follow my passion. I followed my passion into taxes. I worked into public acct and made a nice salary. I earned my masters degree.

Corp america fought me the whole way. Not to play the race card, but being black in corp america requires a duality that feels FAKE to me based on my culture and upbringing. So many things were unfair, I would be yelled at and couldnt yell back. My good jobs would be ignored and mistakes highlighted. My happy all the time attitude was fake and constant and EXPECTED. I had to sit and watch people do things wrong because I wasnt in charge. I had to do things wrong, knowing that it was wrong, because someone else said so. Then when they discover its wrong, I have to redo it with a smile.

I hate it and I never want to go back. I need to go back. I have a family that needs the income and honestly I worked this hard to have a comfortable life. I read this article and it moved me to speak this honestly online. Sorry if it is a downer or sounds whiny.

"The purpose, structure and goals of the corporation can never be questioned. To question, to engage in criticism of the corporate collective, is to be obstructive and negative. We can always make more money, meet new quotas and advance our career if we have enough faith. This magical thinking is largely responsible for our economic collapse since any Cassandra who saw it coming was dismissed as "negative." This childish belief discredits legitimate concerns and anxieties. It exacerbates despair and passivity. It fosters a state of self-delusion. And it has perverted the way we think about the nation and ourselves.
It is not, at its core, about happiness. It is about conformity, a conformity that all totalitarian and authoritarian structures seek to impose on the crowd."
i cant cite the article, sorry but it is not my writing.

ferrarisnowday

Sorry that you're feeling like that.

It sounds like it could be time for a career change? Or at least try to get in with smaller companies and organizations or something.

You went to school to follow your passion; what is that passion?

Brandon86

I'm sure my experience was much different, but this is a big reason why I was never happy at 7-Eleven. The day-to-day running the store stuff wasn't bad, though sometimes I had to fight myself to get motivated to do my work. It was the corporate BS that drove me nuts. I hated having to sit in on corporate meetings.

I kept wanting to get up and yell "How the Hell are you people so excited about serving cheap burritos off of a hot dog roller?" (Seriously, some people would get pumped over that shit). Looking back, the answer? They weren't, they just tricked themselves into thinking they were because they knew that was the best way to make more money.

That's probably a cynical view point, and I know my depressed self has a tough time getting excited about anything, so maybe I'm wrong. Maybe deep down these people really loved their work. I just don't get why.


The one thing I'll take with me from this job was something our CEO said during a national video conference. I hope I'm not breaking confidence here......actually I don't give a damn. He said, in regard to a new coffee cup 7-Eleven sells that is sold specifically to donate a portion of the proceeds to the Richie-Madden foundation : "this is a great way to reach out to that young adult demographic that we've been trying to get for so long."

I'm sure he meant well.....or at least he thought he did, but really?? The best thing about partnering with a charity for children is the extra money we'll get out of it???

I know, I know, it's a business.

That's the problem.

bigpmc

If you hate it that much and it makes you feel that bad, then quit. Money isnt as important as your happiness, and you will make ends meet somehow. We get precious little time in this life, dont let money worries hold you back from doing something you really want to do that will make you happy.

Tank

HAHA. That sounds like every job I've ever worked.

Endless Whinging

It isn't because you are black, it's because you have a brain. It's just the nature of corporate culture. Corporate structure is designed to allow large numbers of mediocre people to churn out profitable work. It has no room in it for effective, intelligent people. It stifles them, frustrates them, and eventually breaks their spirit and spits them out.

I was once a design engineer working for an aircraft engine mfr. I was desiging equipment for an upcoming test to measure durability of an engine, introducing a controlled amount of sand into the inlet of the engine. As I read the specs and set about designing the equipment to feed the sand in, it dawned on me what a fantastic amount of sand we were going to be putting into this engine. And I went back and pulled the papers on the design requirements, and someone had messed up and I was being asked to put ten times the required amount of sand through it.

I brought this up to my boss, and he just shook hios head sadly and told me to leave it alone and put all the sand through it. It became clear that someone high up with enough power to squash us both had made the mistake, and that that person had enough ego that there was no arguing it with them. So we dutifully trashed a $2mil engine proving that it could not take ten times the abuse it was supposed to be able to handle.

I've butted heads with idiocy in every job I've had in large organizations.

Eventually, I got in a trade and now run my own business. And I don't have to do stupid things because someone wants to see me do what they said anymore.

Consider private practice, or consulting, or a move to a small, lean firm where you will be judged on your talent and ability to perform, not your willingness to conform.

Blueprint

Excellent points. OMG ur story is a great example. It's so painful to have a brain and never be allowed to use it.

lizzy

hey u guys!!

u are all normal and not whiny at alll!!


many many many ppl think so

all corporations have this shit!!!

i hate it!!!

although u cant always choose

u have totally normal reactions so belive urself

its not about quitting or staying - its individul for everyone, for me the most important is to know that I AM RIGHT about this and not being whiny. IT IS REALLY like this. Already accpeting this and understanding makes me feel better....

actaully i think its not just corporations, thi shit is almots everywhere where ppl get together not for each other but other things. And when its everyday and constitues ur life its like this...pfffffffffffffff

__________________
Even in the common affairs of life, in love, friendship, and marriage, how little security have we when we trust our happiness in the hands of others!William Hazlitt

My life - my rules!