Training Day (without Denzel)
Today, I am sitting in training for my new job at Sprint. I won't bore you with the details of the training, but I have made an observation on people (especially those that are sitting around me in this room).
First, most people are boring as hell. Not just in the conversations you have with them (though that is the best way to judge someone, I think), but also in the way they interact with everyone. I don't know if it just the US (self-loathing American, I am not), but dumb, boring, foolish, idiotic people are the norm in our society. Is it because so many people are below par that par has moved down and we are all achieving that par? If that is the case, where does that leave intelligent people (which, to be honest, I consider myself to fall in that category)?
Second, trainings, for the most part, are pointless. Anything you learn in training will have to be backed up with experience on the field anyway. I would compare it learning something in the classroom, if I may. When I went to college, I learned plenty of things. Piles of books were dumped into my brain. Knowledge was poured on top of knowledge till I was overflowing with shit I knew. However, it was not until I went out into the world that I put any of that shit into practice. And when I put it into practice, that is when I actually knew it. When I made that trip to Idaho, I put my existentialism in practice. AND I KNEW IT. Not halfway, not sortof, but I knew it. Through and through I knew what I believed and gave it legs. No amount of training could replace that.
Third, in any group, you will find someone who you can put up with. Maybe that is part of human nature, having to have someone like you that you can share the burden of the day with. This room is full of shlubs, yet I found one person I could tolerate and actually enjoy his commentary on it all. Could he hang with the rest of my friends? I don't know. But in this room, he is all I have, so I amplify his tolerable points and make him my friend for the moment. Is he really that cool? I doubt it. But like a person in the water will make anything floating a life raft, he is the only way I have to deal with this bullshit and get through the day. Funny how human nature allows for levels of friends. Some for the moment, some for the night, some for life.
Fourth, jobs are shit. We work only because we have to. Who in their right mind would focus on an unrewarding profession instead of their own interests? If I could sit at home and write all day, I would. I would fill my room with stacks and stacks of useless piles of drivel that I call writing. I would be a genius in my own mind and world. At my job, I am just some other guy. I don't stand out, because honestly, I don't give a fuck.
Which leads into the fifth, I honestly don't care about jobs. Seems so unimportant in life to me. Why do so many people bust their asses for people who don't care about their success? The alienation of the worker, sure it's a socialist idea, but it doesn't make it not true. I remember when I was younger, my dad used to make me work. I hated it, but, at the end of the day, I felt I had accomplished something. I realize now, I am so much more happy when I pour myself into a written piece or a song, than when I get done with another shift at Sprint. The job may pay the bills, but art is my passion.
I rambled (we are all guilty of that sometimes). Please accept my apologies for wasting this moment in your life.
First, most people are boring as hell. Not just in the conversations you have with them (though that is the best way to judge someone, I think), but also in the way they interact with everyone. I don't know if it just the US (self-loathing American, I am not), but dumb, boring, foolish, idiotic people are the norm in our society. Is it because so many people are below par that par has moved down and we are all achieving that par? If that is the case, where does that leave intelligent people (which, to be honest, I consider myself to fall in that category)?
Second, trainings, for the most part, are pointless. Anything you learn in training will have to be backed up with experience on the field anyway. I would compare it learning something in the classroom, if I may. When I went to college, I learned plenty of things. Piles of books were dumped into my brain. Knowledge was poured on top of knowledge till I was overflowing with shit I knew. However, it was not until I went out into the world that I put any of that shit into practice. And when I put it into practice, that is when I actually knew it. When I made that trip to Idaho, I put my existentialism in practice. AND I KNEW IT. Not halfway, not sortof, but I knew it. Through and through I knew what I believed and gave it legs. No amount of training could replace that.
Third, in any group, you will find someone who you can put up with. Maybe that is part of human nature, having to have someone like you that you can share the burden of the day with. This room is full of shlubs, yet I found one person I could tolerate and actually enjoy his commentary on it all. Could he hang with the rest of my friends? I don't know. But in this room, he is all I have, so I amplify his tolerable points and make him my friend for the moment. Is he really that cool? I doubt it. But like a person in the water will make anything floating a life raft, he is the only way I have to deal with this bullshit and get through the day. Funny how human nature allows for levels of friends. Some for the moment, some for the night, some for life.
Fourth, jobs are shit. We work only because we have to. Who in their right mind would focus on an unrewarding profession instead of their own interests? If I could sit at home and write all day, I would. I would fill my room with stacks and stacks of useless piles of drivel that I call writing. I would be a genius in my own mind and world. At my job, I am just some other guy. I don't stand out, because honestly, I don't give a fuck.
Which leads into the fifth, I honestly don't care about jobs. Seems so unimportant in life to me. Why do so many people bust their asses for people who don't care about their success? The alienation of the worker, sure it's a socialist idea, but it doesn't make it not true. I remember when I was younger, my dad used to make me work. I hated it, but, at the end of the day, I felt I had accomplished something. I realize now, I am so much more happy when I pour myself into a written piece or a song, than when I get done with another shift at Sprint. The job may pay the bills, but art is my passion.
I rambled (we are all guilty of that sometimes). Please accept my apologies for wasting this moment in your life.
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Posted by
Anonymous |
3:31 PM
Hey, what ever happened to teaching? Did you ever become a teacher? If so, how long did you teach, and what didn't you like about it?
Posted by
Anonymous |
3:32 PM
i taught for 3 years. got so sick of it all that i decided not to go back to it again. i am happy working a shit job and living my life.
Posted by
WDV |
7:01 PM
A few questions apropos your fourth observaion: what if someone found their job rewarding? Would it still be a shit job? What about people who get paid to sit around and write all day, like J. K. Rowling or Conor Oberst? Are their jobs shit simply because they're jobs?
Posted by
rwmonty |
8:16 PM