I could feel the anger building up inside of him. His face got redder by the second; veins began popping out on the front and sides of his forehead. His voice raised itself from that of a koala bear asking directions to the nearest Taco Bell to that of a three-thousand foot tall Tyrannosaurus Rex informing the citizens of New Delhi that either he gets a world-class dish of curry or they will be destroyed before they can say “Shiva.”
My crime? (Get ready for this one, it’s a doozy!): Texting Ashley during our nightly meeting at work. By the veracity of this man’s words and tone of voice, you’d think I’d just attempted smuggling twenty pounds of steak and a new Blu-Ray player out the back door, or taken a swing at a fellow employee.
My manager went on an on about how I violated company policy and how I showed him (in his mind) virtually no respect because I was not giving him my undivided and utmost attention. (Never mind the man probably spoke about four bullet-points’ worth of information actually listening to; the other fifteen minutes of the meeting was him just repeating himself because he thought we couldn’t understand what it was that he just said.
I was surprised at myself that evening that I wasn’t really angry in that room; heck, I still am. Instead, I was completely and utterly incredulous. I didn’t know what to say, or even what to think for that matter, for the sheer shock of being literally yelled at for something so insanely trivial never ceased to be most forefront in my mind. Here he was, giving me the riot act, and there I was, seriously beginning to question his sanity.
Now, to be fair, was I actually violating company policy on cell phones? Yes; we’re not supposed to have them…you know? I honestly can’t remember what, exactly; our policy is because I haven’t heard it in its official form since my orientation almost five months ago. I do know that, technically, we’re not supposed to have them with us on the floor (where the customers are), but nearly everybody ß(not an exaggeration) uses them to keep track of the time; to know when to go to break and lunch and to actually leave in the morning, because let’s face it, if you’re not used to it, wearing a watch is insanely annoying, and you can end up looking really dorky if you’re not careful. Not to mention the fact that I have texted countless times in pre-work meetings and nobody has ever mentioned a single word to me before about this behavior. Ever.
And maybe I wasn’t giving him my pure and undivided attention, but to say that I can’t send a text message every now and then and not be able to, whatsoever, pay attention to what he is saying is almost like a teacher telling a student that if he’s taking notes he can’t learn as well. E.g. Professor Severus Snape in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry’s first day in Potions class.
Am I using this post as a chance to vent? Yes. But at the same time, I do, seriously and honestly, believe that I was not only treated unfairly, but that I also struck a nerve in this man’s perhaps power hungry, probably in-desperate-need-of-attention-and-control, and most and worst of all, definitely married-to-his-job psyche.
It saddens me that what I talked about last time is lost on so many Americans, and especially those in higher positions in their vocations. Yes, a lot of hard work has gotten them where they are, but at the end of the day, what does it matter?
Ecclesiastes 2:17-26 reads:
So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
I believe this is the viewpoint on our jobs that we need to have. You see, the Bible talks a lot in several other places about the benefits of working hard, none of which I doubt. But I believe we let ourselves start sinking in mental quicksand when we start to equate our jobs and how hard we work in them with our personal identity. Nobody is a better or worse person simply because of a position of a certain height they hold in their job. A fry cook at McDonald’s is not necessarily lowly and good-for-nothing and a manager is not necessarily smarter, faster, or more capable than any other employee.
Do people’s personalities and own personal traits usually find their way into their work ethic? Absolutely. A person who is lazy by nature is probably not going to be the person who gives their job 110 percent. But at the same time, a person can have a very strong work ethic, and yet be overcome by personal shortfalls; i.e. they do not fail for a lack of trying.
As a human race, as a nation, we have got to stop equating ourselves with our jobs. You are more than what you do for a living, and you are worth more than the mere sum of your accomplishments. Please know that. In Acts 20:24, Paul says that “(…) I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.”
Granted, Paul’s task is different from many of ours, but God has still purposed all of us to do His work. Let us find out what that work is, and then run for it with all our strength. If God’s work is different from the work you’re already doing, be willing to give it up. If it is the same as the job you have right now; if you are called to be most effective in the vocation you already have, then don’t let anything or anyone stop you from doing performing spectacularly on a regular basis.
Let’s not put all our eggs in one basket, and let’s especially not put all our Heavenly eggs in Earthly baskets, where moth and rust destroy. (Matthew 6:19-20). We need to be involved, yet detached. Here, but There. Aware, yet wary.
This is a lesson I pray my manager learns before it is too late. And as for me, well, Jesus said to love our enemies. (Matthew 5:44) I think I’ll make him some cookies…
So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 8:15
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