Sunday 26 July 2009

My Job Sucks Because

A job only ever sucks because of people. I don't think you can genuinely hate a job enough because it's stupid or too glamourous or whatever lame reason anyone can think of, because there are always trade offs. You get a fun job, you get paid less. You get a high-paying job, you better slog it out to get there and/or stay there. Jobs generally even out in terms of pros and cons.

It might seem like I'm just pulling out another one of the things from my people-loathing repertoire, but I really think that if anything ever tips the balance about how bad a job can be, it's the people.

No one can make a job you're doing suck more than the people you have to work with to get your work done (I'm talking about bosses and colleagues, not customers here. Customers are part of the work, and as I will explain later, are to be bravely dealt with). And nothing can make you feel like your job is crappy as much as people around you can. We're all wired to count our blessings or we're all doomed to depression, so we're very well capable of deluding ourselves that our jobs are perfect. So what gives? People around telling you your job is shit or making your job shit, that's what.

So, as I was telling a colleague of mine, if you're quitting your job because of the people, or because of one boss who can't wipe his ass cleanly enough so you'll have to help him too, it's not a spoilt or prissy thing to do. To quit a job because of the work might very well be ungrounded, floaty and wussy because it means you can't take the work you've set out to do, and if the work didn't turn out the way you wanted it to, why wasn't a more informed decision made before you decided to do take it up? That's the gay part of quitting. But leaving because you can't put up with stupid people - now that's more like it.




Oh, you hate your job? There's a support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar.
- Drew Carey

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