To Work Or Not To Work...For Someone Else That Is

This post is so fitting right now given that tomorrow I plan on making a big decision...Lets hope I stick with it!!

If you haven't read the back story of Cubicology you should click here for that. O.k. so what better way to express the frustrations of working for someone else than to write about it? I talk too much probably to a fault and speak only the truth, which often catches people off guard, I am rather surprised that I have not been fired. It’s much safer to write about the highs and lows of the 9 to 5 then to express them verbally to the actual people who cause the lows! Even though my lack of a filter causes me to do that anyway…some might call me fearless, but I have just developed a case of not caring. Not to mention, I’m sure there are about a zillion people out there who highly dislike their current jobs; or they are not sure of what they want to do for a career and are trying to be grateful because honestly, given the economy and the recession, having a job to some people is a definite blessing. I have to ask though, is it worth being miserable? I’d like to believe that we all have a certain talent or a certain interest that we would rather be pursuing on a full time basis. Maybe just maybe, those unhappy souls should just jump out there to create their own happiness instead of sitting at a desk in a cubicle wondering and wishing they were somewhere else. Maybe your time is better utilized working on your dream for 8 hours instead of wasting 8 hours being miserable for what many would say are peanuts!

Peanut [pee-nuht]
-noun Informal. a very small amount of money: working for peanuts. Or how about this! Peanuts: What the employer pays you because in their company they have the upper hand and they think that you need their job!


Before I continue, maybe I should first give you my credentials so that you can make an educated decision as to whether or not this is worth your reading pleasure. I am an opinionated blogger. There you have it! That's what makes me an authority and gives me to the right to say what I want...MY BLOG. OK, but seriously, I graduated from high school and I graduated from college just like many people, nothing fancy there. I’ve been working in Corporate America since I was 19 and I have worked with both bright people and no so bright people. More often than not the people that I have worked with only spoke in a language of subliminal truths and political correctness, which was a language that I did not speak. With that being said what I am writing are my opinions and perceptions. Some people would deem me an expert on real talk as I do not speak fluff. Now, here is your assignment should you choose to accept it: walk away and continue on with your wonderful 9-5 or stay and be enlightened…This message will self-destruct in ……….!


Some may say that I am bitter, or I must have been treated badly, when in fact it’s all based on the fact that I really don’t like to go to work and I have yet to find a job that I like to go to everyday. That pretty much means that everyday I go to a place that makes me kind of unhappy for about 8 hours. I can see how that would make me seem angry and bitter to some. I guess I could just quit, couldn’t I? Maybe I am meant to be a stay at home person, I’m not quite sure…what would that make me, a homemaker?? I'm not a mom so the title Stay At Home Mom does not apply to me. So until I figure out where I am supposed to be, I have decided to collect the peanuts and make good use of my time, find ways to make my job more interesting. And don’t be alarmed, I am not going to go on some diatribe suggesting that you talk to your boss to see if you can get more challenging work to help you be more fulfilled, or say to look for the positive side of your job and realize that some people make less than peanuts and you should be grateful…blah blah blah!! I think you already know that there are many people who can tell you that stuff, people that go to school specifically to learn how to teach you how to sell yourself to an employer. I will leave all of that great advice for them to share with you.


I understand, I may have already touched a nerve with some of you, and if that is the case shouldn’t you have stopped reading this two paragraphs ago? But since you didn’t, I’m glad to have you! Please continue. I would encourage all of you reading this that if you are going to spend 8 hours of your life at a place that you hate going to every morning, to at least follow my lead. Be efficient and productive and find the fun! Use those hours to write about it, research, and brainstorm! Get to your desk, put your headphones in and first things first, go to ABC.com and find Good Morning America and listen in on the news of the day, and then Oprah.com to get some sound financial advice from Jean Chatzky and/or relationship advice from Laura Berman. From there I suggest the View, and then how about a soap opera or two…shout out to Hulu! This is fuel for the soul. If you work in an office full of dull blue and gray cubicles that look like a maze and make you feel that you are trapped in an ant farm or rat race (did I mention that office space is the best movie EVER?!) then you need to find the sunshine! You have to learn how to tune out the misery that is your job and focus on things that make you happy, things that are not the job. There isn’t much of a science to this, but you have to learn to look busy and be swift. Learn how to minimize a screen in a split second, make good use of the alt tab keys. All the while creating your master plan to jump ship. And when the new annoying director of the department emerges from his corner castle and comes galloping by on his high horse pass your tiny cubicle just to ask if you are living the dream (because of course he is being paid to feel that way, and thinks you should feel that way too) you can say…I’m working on it right now Jack Ass! But I digress.

Most of what I am speaking of was spurred by one place. But hey, they gave me great material!

So enjoy!

Tatum