the pettiness of jealousy
As many of you know, I have issues with the Democratic party. Lots of them. One of the bigger ones is the perpetuation of class envy. Nobody is ever supposed to be happy with what they have. If they are, someone is quick to point out...but look at what he has...or being fair...what she has. They have more than you. They have more than you and that's not fair. Nobody talks much about how they ended up with more than you. Nobody talks about sacrifices made, risks taken, or blood, sweat, and tears. It's just...look at them...they have it better than you. You should have that too. It's not fair to link that with what I'm about to say, because it's a different context, but it is the same concept.
At work, we have a guy who has Multiple Sclerosis. When he was diagnosed, he was a mechanic. He had worked on golf course equipment for seven years here, and was a really good employee. He kept working as a mechanic until the disease progressed, and it was determined that it really wasn't safe for him to be working as a mechanic. The company could have just cut him loose, but they didn't. They decided to give him an aptitude test. The results put him in a class to learn a computer language and design software. He did that for a few years and now he's a project manager. Somewhere in there I started working here, and before the disease got too bad, he taught me pretty much everything I know about how to play golf. He's been with the company for about 20 years. He's a conscientious guy. He works hard and does a good job. Frankly, there are people who could probably do the job better, and he knows that....and he spends somewhere around 12 hours a day working...to make up for some of the things he doesn't do as well. In the end, he's competent at what he does, and won't make excuses for his disease.
There are people who have been here far less time, and don't work the kind of hours he does, and they're jealous. They're more educated than he is. They have degrees he doesn't. They want his job. Implicit in anyone's job is a contract. You agree to do a certain kind/amount of work for a certain amount of compensation, monetary and otherwise. What anyone else may or may not be getting has nothing to do with that, not that you really know what they may or may not be getting, but that's another subject, too.
The disease has progresses to the point where he doesn't walk any more. He uses a wheelchair to get around. In the last year, he's started using voice recognition software, because he's losing control in his fingers. Voice recognition software is pretty good stuff, but it's not perfect. In the last year, most correspondence from this guy has spelling errors in it, especially when it gets technical and the software doesn't know what to do. In other cases, it gets a phonetically close word, but it's not what he wanted to use. I'll grant you this. The guy should probably proof what he sends out and fix all those errors, but he doesn't.
That has led to some of the cruelest crap I have ever witnessed from the petty and jealous, who coincidentally, are the same people I have called whiners in the past. The guy with MS doesn't work in our building, so he doesn't hear any of it, but it's cruel just the same. They spend hours making fun of the spelling or grammar errors in his e-mails and documents, and then wonder aloud why he has a job they so obviously want. No, they would never use the word "counsel" instead of "console", but if you try...even a little bit, you can figure out what he's trying to say. He's doing the best he can with what the world has given him, and really...if you give a little and work with him, it doesn't affect his job performance. You can read what he sends out and easily figure out what he's trying to say, even if it isn't spelled out the way it ought to be.
Realistically, unless I (and everyone else who does MS walks and bike rides) can pedal my way to a cure pretty soon, this guy only has a few more productive years left in the work force. We can either work with him and make them as productive as possible..or mock him and make ourselves miserable with jealousy...and in the end make him miserable too.
People have choices.
At work, we have a guy who has Multiple Sclerosis. When he was diagnosed, he was a mechanic. He had worked on golf course equipment for seven years here, and was a really good employee. He kept working as a mechanic until the disease progressed, and it was determined that it really wasn't safe for him to be working as a mechanic. The company could have just cut him loose, but they didn't. They decided to give him an aptitude test. The results put him in a class to learn a computer language and design software. He did that for a few years and now he's a project manager. Somewhere in there I started working here, and before the disease got too bad, he taught me pretty much everything I know about how to play golf. He's been with the company for about 20 years. He's a conscientious guy. He works hard and does a good job. Frankly, there are people who could probably do the job better, and he knows that....and he spends somewhere around 12 hours a day working...to make up for some of the things he doesn't do as well. In the end, he's competent at what he does, and won't make excuses for his disease.
There are people who have been here far less time, and don't work the kind of hours he does, and they're jealous. They're more educated than he is. They have degrees he doesn't. They want his job. Implicit in anyone's job is a contract. You agree to do a certain kind/amount of work for a certain amount of compensation, monetary and otherwise. What anyone else may or may not be getting has nothing to do with that, not that you really know what they may or may not be getting, but that's another subject, too.
The disease has progresses to the point where he doesn't walk any more. He uses a wheelchair to get around. In the last year, he's started using voice recognition software, because he's losing control in his fingers. Voice recognition software is pretty good stuff, but it's not perfect. In the last year, most correspondence from this guy has spelling errors in it, especially when it gets technical and the software doesn't know what to do. In other cases, it gets a phonetically close word, but it's not what he wanted to use. I'll grant you this. The guy should probably proof what he sends out and fix all those errors, but he doesn't.
That has led to some of the cruelest crap I have ever witnessed from the petty and jealous, who coincidentally, are the same people I have called whiners in the past. The guy with MS doesn't work in our building, so he doesn't hear any of it, but it's cruel just the same. They spend hours making fun of the spelling or grammar errors in his e-mails and documents, and then wonder aloud why he has a job they so obviously want. No, they would never use the word "counsel" instead of "console", but if you try...even a little bit, you can figure out what he's trying to say. He's doing the best he can with what the world has given him, and really...if you give a little and work with him, it doesn't affect his job performance. You can read what he sends out and easily figure out what he's trying to say, even if it isn't spelled out the way it ought to be.
Realistically, unless I (and everyone else who does MS walks and bike rides) can pedal my way to a cure pretty soon, this guy only has a few more productive years left in the work force. We can either work with him and make them as productive as possible..or mock him and make ourselves miserable with jealousy...and in the end make him miserable too.
People have choices.
Labels: Philosophy
John put this out here at 7:01 AM
1 Comments:
that was a nice post. I have goosebumps. I hear you. I like to say that some people are just plain a-holes.
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