January 22, 2010

 “My anger is now solely reserved for when I encounter deliberate uselessness.  Unfortunately, I’m still angry all the time.”

The screaming tirades of an out of control boss seem to be an office occurrence that is quickly fading into the sunset.  I watch them disappear with a bit of melancholy.  When all of the yelling matches are gone, what will we have left to laugh about?

Having worked for a few “desk pounders” in years gone by, I look back with a strange sort of affection for those days.  If you did something wrong, you heard about it.  In fact, if you did something wrong, everyone in the building heard about it.  There were no favorites.  All of us in the office had our turn in the barrel.  While it was painfully embarrassing to be yelled at, it wasn’t a personal thing.  It was just part of the territory that came with working for a “desk pounder”.

As with most of us, even the “desk pounders” mellow a bit with time.  Seeing an old boss recently caused me to mention that I thought he had really lost a bit of his edge.  The old intensity seemed to have waned a bit.  With just a hint of a smile (further indication that he had mollified his old ways), he answered, “My anger is now solely reserved for when I encounter deliberate uselessness.  Unfortunately, I’m still angry all the time.”

I feel sorry for all those who have never had to recover from a verbal trip to the woodshed.  You forge a little steel in your spine from those experiences.  Perhaps, just perhaps, if all of us had to be accountable (if only for a brief period) to an old fashioned “desk pounder” once or twice in our lives, there wouldn’t be such a thing as deliberate uselessness.

And then, who knows?  At that point, even the cunning and crafty old “desk pounders”, sitting wizened in retirement, might turn a hint of a smile into a full belly laugh.

Craig Halsey

They Said It

January 22, 2010