Temporary Hell at “The Man’s” Office

Monday, October 9, 2006 at 10:39am by Gina Laverde in Life

If you’re not working for yourself – you’re working for the man. And, so many of us idealistic youths avoid that at all costs (I include myself in the “youth” category because I feel like I can do that here – thanks, Dave!). Complaints about the man make it into our songs, daily rants and conversations with friends at the bar on weekends. We can’t escape him.

The man watches us as we hammer out our latest masterpiece at the all night coffee shop. He looms over the grocer’s freezer section as we choose which ice-cream to buy. He’s next to you on the couch as you watch Seinfeld re-runs. See, we kinda need him a little bit. And I say– why not take advantage of what he has to offer

Sometimes you need extra money to get by and pay the bills. And, as long as you are aware… the man can be a tool for your success.

Does it ever occur to you that people who work for the man are happier because they can leave work at work? Have you ever worked a job where you gave it your all, and even offered suggestions for improvement – only to be rejected and put back in your “place?”

My husband and I often take on various temp job assignments and find ourselves torn when faced with an obstacle on the job. You can find us doing anything from paralegal work to acting as production assistants on commercial shoots. Last week, my guy was put in a “room” in a law firm downtown (Chicago) where he was asked to open boxes of paper and separate them into “temporary” files.

Now, my husband is a business man, and furthermore — he’s someone with a lot of experience in law. He almost immediately offered to spend a bit more time on the project in order to file the documents into their “permanent” homes, and save the company time and money in the long run.

It turns out that his “supervisors” would rather spend more company time and money than take advice from a TEMPORARY FILE CLERK.

You do have a place when you work for the man, and I often find that it’s nearly impossible for them to look beyond the label they have given you. Know your place and know that it is temporary, and you won’t get stuck wasting your valuable time.

For 2 years, I was a part time phone representative who wrote numerous short stories and started the concept of my magazine from the man’s office. People I worked with knew I was a writer, but didn’t care to use my expertise to their advantage.

I struggled to offer my opinions and assistance to the man’s marketing department and was given further responsibilities disguised as favors. I realized that I was working way too hard to get them to notice me, and that my creative energy would be better spent on seeking more freelance work. When I sat in meetings with the man’s people they were always surprised that such “intellectual” opinions came from a phone representative.

If it was your intention to make it big in someone else’s company — I would advise you never to start at the bottom of the barrel. Then again, since it is your intention to succeed on your own terms and run your own business – I advise you to work at the bottom of the man’s barrel as much as possible. The bottom is full of simple money making opportunities that can help you make ends meet while you start your business.

The bottom is also full of tons of people like you with great stories to share. You can sit at your desk (and computer – if they give you one) and virtually never get noticed. Bask in your bottomness with low-grade responsibilities and make a few bucks as you organize thoughts for your own business.

The man needs good workers without opinions to keep his business running. You understand. You run a business. But an occasional trip to where the regular guy sits will keep you from becoming jaded by the total coolness of being your own boss.

Keeping it temporary is the best way that I have found to eliminate my undying desire to “fix” things that the man doesn’t want fixed. It’s my way of leaving work at work and not taking personal offense to office politics. I’ve listed myself with several temp agencies who specialize in finding work for opinionated hard-headed people like myself. And they pay better and offer more personal think time than doing something like bar tending.

Let the man’s office be your temporary fix for a depleting wallet. And move on to the next man’s office when it starts becoming hell.

2 Comments

Leave a Comment