Workin' For a Living

Work: The general word for effort put forth in doing or making something, whether physical or mental, easy or difficult, pleasant or unpleasant, etc.


Work was one of the many things at which I did not excel when I was drinking.  Come to think of it, I wasn't all that great at it for a long time in sobriety, either.  The phrase "to work grudgingly or under half steam" is one that sticks in my mind.  I was cursed and then I was blessed in my work life.  Before I got sober I was tormented by an amazingly evil and incompetent group of terrible bosses and supervisors and managers.  I didn't report to one who was any good at all - not one, not a single one.  Then I got sober and was blessed with an amazingly kind and talented group of managers and bosses and supervisors.  Kind and generous to a fault -- every one of them.


Believe it or not, it took me many years to figure out what the connection was, the defining event that caused this paradigm shift.  I really didn't see the correlation.  I didn't see that if I showed up for work on time and stayed until quitting time, actually did what I was tasked to do when I was there, and tried to be pleasant and cooperative, then my work life went swimmingly.  I got promoted and received good work reviews.  I lost some jobs like everyone does but I wasn't fired with extreme prejudice by men and women who seemed to enjoy the process, or at least were relieved to be quit of me.


Here's a snippet of my recollection of an exchange with one of my past sponsors, clearly tired of listening to me complain about work.


"Do you own the company?" he asked.
"NO, BUT . . ."
"Are you the president or CEO or VP of anything?" he asked.
"NO, but . . . "
"Do you have any managerial or supervisory or consulting responsibilities of any kind, in any way, shape, or form at the place that you're implying that you could run better than it's being run by people with advanced degrees in business related fields and many years of on the job experience?" he asked.
"No . . . "
"So someone to whom you report is asking you to do something that he or she has the authority to ask you to do?" he asked.
". . . . "
"How about this.  How about you shut your $#!! mouth and do what you're told to do, with something approaching a smile on your face, and see how that works out for you," he said.


You know what?  It worked out pretty well.