Work: Getting Through It

I’ve been thinking a lot about work lately. They’re not all good thoughts, but I’d be surprised to hear of anyone who’s completely satisfied with their employment situation lately. Did you ever hear the phrase “I love my job but I hate the people I work with?”

Maybe my situation is nowhere near as extreme. It has been in the past, yes, but that was in a different position at a different company. The position I have now I’ve held for several years and for the most point I’ve been content with it. My commute is barely 15 minutes on a good day, the work I do is stimulating and the insurance is awesome.

So you think, what is this chick complaining about?

I realize I may have been in some ways better off when I didn’t talk to anybody and kept to myself. I had no fun, but I also had no empathy for any of my co-workers. Having made friends at work has changed me in good ways and I look forward to going to work everyday. But still, that one nagging thing is haunting me.

Corporate America sucks.

There. I said it. Now before you tell me “So what?” please hear me out. What does it take to get to the top? And how many people are trampled as others make their way up? My employer, which has done remarkable work with the community and for the most part has a very inclusive, encouraging atmosphere, has a dark underbelly where poison mushrooms grow. People in positions of power who do not hesitate to abuse it. People who are condescending and outright rude to those beneath them.

All I ask is, how do people like that get into positions of power? And how do they manage to stay there?

And how do I continue on when I dislike so many things that are happening?

Does this sound familiar to you? How did you—do you—deal with it?

Here’s what I intend to do: Take my butt back to work tomorrow and do my best. What they do is what they do. I only have control over my own actions. I can be friendly, encouraging and sometimes even comforting. I will spend everyday not necessarily setting an example but treating others the way I want to be treated. The best thing I can do in a world of bad supervisors, managers and general slimeballs is to be a better co-worker. The same kind I want surrounding me.