Re: Re: Re: Re: Musician's life in the Military


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Posted by Rick Denney on June 18, 2003 at 11:29:56:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Musician's life in the Military posted by Sean Chisham on June 17, 2003 at 22:35:49:

Sean, don't close your mind. Every job has assholes, and learning how to deal with them is part of surviving on this planet. Believe me--I have the scars to prove it.

Military authority is often arbitrary and awarded for all the wrong reasons, but it is no different in other lines of work. The Peter Principle isn't just a joke.

Perhaps you can't change the situation, but you can change how the situation affects you. That is your choice.

I really resonated with Joe's story about hanging around the disgruntled types. When I was fresh out of engineering school and all enthusiastic and idealistic, I took a job with a premiere state transportation department (the best in the country at the time), on the strength of my degree from a premiere university (at least in that branch of engineering). For the first six months, I was "training" under a brainless gentleman who was arbitrary and who was also threatened by anybody not afraid of their intelligence (or so I thought at the time). As with all government agencies, we respected our coffee breaks religiously, and I took to going on my coffee break with four or five people in the office who turned out to be the disgruntled group. After about four months, I was depressed, negative, and on the verge of quitting. I looked on the other "table" full of coffee drinkers, who seemed to be having a good time, as "the enemy." I am generally stupid but I made a good decision at that time: I switched coffee-break groups. Could such a silly detail make that much difference? You bet it could. After another month, I was feeling fine and spent my coffee breaks mulling over the technical problems we were facing rather than listening to incessant bitching about personalities. It was like coming out from under a cloud into the sunshine.

But I'm reading this thread with interest, because I'm terribly bored with my current work and I'm contemplating a job change myself. This is forcing me to reconsider my own role in my boredom, and I'm not liking what I see.

Rick "who insists all gigs have their B.S.--much of which we bring along on our own" Denney


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