a shield

I ended my last post with what is probably the most overtly negative thing that I've ever said about work. The hour thieving is not some widespread epidemic at work but there are a few who take more than just a few hours here and there. That's not even the problem; it's just a symptom of the overall quality of the work that they do when they are on the job. Thus, the hour thieving is an easy focal point for their fundamentally wretched ethic. In all fairness, there is a corollary for salaried employees and that's that they try to work as few hours as possible. Salaried does not equal awesome work ethic and commitment to one's job. It just means there's dramatically less incentive to work long hours for little extra compensation.

Sometimes I wonder what will happen if I'm here long enough. Will the Farmington funkiness infect me if I stay too long? Will I buy a four wheeler and a pick-up and pretend that this is pristine country? Will I find mediocrity acceptable? I think not. There's a quote from The Shawshank Redemption that I feel is rather apt: "I could see why some of the boys took him for snobby. He had a quiet way about him, a walk and a talk that just wasn't normal around here. He strolled, like a man in a park without a care or a worry in the world, like he had on an invisible coat that would shield him from this place."

Let's not read too much into this though. Clearly this is not a prison and I'm not sure how quiet an air I have about me. But I'll admit I probably seemed snobby at first (or perhaps I still do to some) and I certainly don't talk like anyone else at work. As for my walk, it seems normal, though probably faster than average. But in the end, this place isn't me. It's something else, a place that won't change me unless I want it to.