Trying Something New...

Greetings:

I think I'm going to try to post something at least every weekday for a while. It sucks that I have only been averaging one post every month or so for the last little while, and I need to keep up my writing chops, so we'll see how this goes. It will usually be pretty short, but at least it will be something.

Today I think I just want to comment on something that hit me during last night's episode of Lost. There was a scene where John Locke, in a wheelchair, rolled up to his cubicle after returning from Sydney. The look of disappointment on John's face said it all. Cubicles are coffins. Plain and simple. They are places where people spend a majority of their waking hours doing meaningless work, all the while heading toward death.

I shuddered when I saw that look on John's face. I have felt those feelings countless times before. I have spent at least 5 of my 32 years locked in a cubicle every day. Answering phones, making outbound calls, processing paperwork - accomplishing nothing. Just another cog in the giant machine. God I hated it. I would seriously start thinking about, at the very least, self-mutilation if I knew that I were resigned to jobs like that for the rest of my life. I credit my recovery from the depression I felt at my former jobs to the prospect of a new career as a teacher. I look back on those times now and realize just how utterly miserable I was. There is just not much worse than waking up early each day so that you can go to a job where you know you are 100% replaceable and that your personal contribution is completely meaningless.

As it turned out in the episode, John got fired a few minutes later by a supervisor that seemed absolutely delighted to be doing it. I just kept thinking of the look on so many of my former bosses' faces when they finally got the chance to give me and my "bad attitude" the boot. What a terrible, terrible system to be a part of.

If you're sitting in a job like this right now, I'm so very sorry for you. Please take heart in the fact that while your employer may be able to control your appearance and behavior for 8 hours a day, they can never control your thoughts (unless you let them). And it's never too late to look for a better life.

I am the Reverend Humpy and I have approved this message of rebellion.