Perceived Stupidity

Stupidity is waking up every morning to get ready for a job that you can’t stand. I’ve been doing the same job for the last fourteen years and there hasn’t been a day that’s gone by that I haven’t hated it. Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch. Some days aren’t so bad. But they are few and far between.

The truth is, I’m scared. I’ve been doing what I do for so long that doing anything else would bring with it a severe pay cut. I’ve tried to force myself to love my job, to enjoy doing what I do, but no matter how hard I try, I just can’t convince myself.

It’s been brought to my attention by my supervisors and higher ups that I don’t act like I want to be here. The truth is, I don’t, but I can’t tell them that. So I’ve gotten good at convincing them when the subject comes up that I really do love my job. The truth is, I love the security that the job gives me. In these hard economic times, it’s very hard to quit something secure and try something else, especially when you’ve been doing it for as long as I have.

It makes it doubly hard when you have a family to think about. I don’t need to be worried if I’m going to be able to afford food for my seven month old. Or diapers, or wipes, or clothing or anything else. I just don’t need the hassle of wondering.

Add to that the fact that I only have to work at this job for six more years and I can retire and have a check for life. I’ll be thirty-nine years old when that happens. It seems so close, yet so far away. I’ve already done fourteen years, is six more really that bad if I’ve put up with it for this long?

Stupidity has many layers and can be seen from many viewpoints. Sometimes, something that seems stupid, when done long enough, tends to change direction. Several years ago, it was stupid for me to continue working in a job that made me miserable. However, since so much time has passed, and I’m so much closer to retirement, it has now become stupid for me to quit.

Are you in a job you hate? Are you being stupid about staying in it? Only you can answer that.

It’s all a matter of perspective. Don’t listen to what anybody else says. Well, listen, but don’t feel you have to feel the same way they do. Including me. Weigh the options. This is a choice you have to make.

For me, I’ll be doing this job for six more years. Call me stupid.

Stupidity in the Workplace

I love e-mail. It's a great way to let someone know something without having to talk to them. This is especially useful if you don't like the individual and can't stand the sound of their voice.

However, I think we depend on it too much.

Take, for example, this incident that happened last week where I work. I have a desk job, along with some others that I work with in the same office. With that being said, we aren't chained to our desks. Our job takes us out of the office quite frequently.

One of my coworkers, we'll call him Adam, received an e-mail on Friday at 1 p.m. that said he needed to be in a training class at 5 p.m., just four hours away, for some work he would be doing this week. Now, we also had an company picnic that started at 2 p.m. that was pretty much mandatory for us to go to. He left work at 1 p.m. to go get his wife and bring her back to the picnic. Although this was a company picnic, it was strongly encouraged that family come as well. Now, Adam, being the stand up guy that he was, did the right thing, although he had work to do, and went to the picnic. The picnic went beyond our work hours so no one went back to work when it was over.

Now, here we are, Monday morning, and he's getting yelled at by our boss because he missed the training Friday evening that he knew nothing about.

Stupidity in the workplace. How in the hell can he be in trouble for that? It wasn't his fault. Which leads me to the reason for this post.

If you have something important to tell someone that is time sensitive, do not rely on e-mail to get the job done. That's just stupid. Have we progressed so far in this technological age that a phone call for something this important is no longer appropriate?

I'm not against technology, but we have to use common sense. E-mail is great, but you have to be smart about it. Even if we didn't have the picnic to go to on Friday evening, there's no guarantee that he would have gotten the e-mail since our job requires us to be out of the office a lot.

I guess I'm a little old fashioned in a way. I prefer to call someone when I have a problem with something or need something fixed or what have you. I like the comfort of knowing that my message was conveyed right then and there instead of wondering when someone is going to check their e-mail.

Did you know that some businesses don't even allow you to call them if you have an issue with them? E-mail is the only way to contact them. That's just stupid and horrible customer service.

If you're the type of person that sends e-mail at the last minute for something that needs to be completed yesterday, please stop it. You're an idiot. And if you continue, don't be surprised if the thing you needed done doesn't get done on time. It's your own fault. Don't blame it on the person that didn't get the message.

Only you can prevent workplace stupidity!

Stupidity and Appearances

I say that I'm not big on appearances. I say it, but deep down, I don't really believe it. To some extent, we all care about how we look.

Take for example, when I go out to smoke when I'm at home (talk about stupidity, I want to quit smoking, but can't. Somebody help me!), I usually don't wear a shirt. Hell, when I'm at home, nine times out of ten all I'm wearing are my pajama pants! Anyway, when I go outside to smoke, I usually don't care that I'm not wearing a shirt until I see one of my neighbors. Then I become self conscious about my belly. It's not huge or anything, I mean, I'm not fat by any means, but it's far from the washboard abs I wish I had. So I find myself sucking in my gut.

What does this have to do with stupidity?

Well, in my opinion, caring about what other people think or say about you is stupid. Granted we all do it, myself included, it is stupid. Because, when it's all said and done and you're on your death bed, you are the only one you have to answer to. It will be you that you have to convince that you were right not to stand up in front of the entire bar and sing Born this Way by Lady GaGa on karaoke.

It will be you that has to convince yourself that you were right not to hit on that waitress in the diner who brought you extra food when you didn't ask for it all because you were embarrassed or *gasp* the gods forbid, you ask and she said no! How could you live with the embarrassment?

The bottom line is, forget embarrassment, forget how you'll look to someone else. You are all that matters. Make yourself happy. Sing that song, ask that girl (or guy) out. When you're on your way out, make sure you have the least amount of what ifs that you can.

Living a life for someone else is just plain stupidity. Especially if that person really means nothing to you in your life.

With that being said, I'm heading outside to smoke (stupidly) and I'm going to poke my belly out for the world to see! My wife doesn't mind it so much.

Stupidity in the Home

Every day you can see or hear of someone doing something stupid. I was fortunate today for not having witnessed any stupidity whatsoever. How did I accomplish this amazing feat? Simple. I stayed home. I did not leave the house at all.

Now, having said that, my wife and I are both retarded. I don't mean that in an offensive way or a slight to anyone who might happen to be mentally retarded, it's just how we act around each other. We understand each other because we both act retarded around each other. One of the most common phrases she says to me, other than "I love you," is "I love how you crack yourself up."

I love being stupid around my wife when no one else is around. It's a release of sorts to keep me from being stupid in public. It's a mental release. The same way that wailing on a punching bag relieves you of the compulsion to beat on someone in real life, saving you the headache of going to jail, or, more likely, getting your own ass whipped because you realize a little too late that you're not really a fighter, but more of a lover. 

Not everyone is stupid, but everyone has stupid tendencies. Use the weekend, when you're home alone or with a loved one, to get the stupidity out of your system before you head back out into the real world on Monday. Stupidity in the workplace leads to unemployment which leads to no money which leads to no food which leads to death. And no one wants to die. Except kids that dress in all black and think they're vampires. Kids that think that cutting themselves is cool.

Now that's real stupidity.