bass-ackwards

it continually surprises me that people in general just don't get it. i suppose this illuminates one of my own shortcomings, as much as anything else - the very fact that i am continually surprised by the same things, and the fact that i have an assumption that there is an 'it' to 'get.'

take my former employer, for example. they don't get it. now, i won't say i'm the best at what i do, but i'm damn good. i won't say that i'm the most committed, but i am fiercely loyal. i won't say that i know it all, have done it all or am always 'right' -- but i know a lot, i've done a lot, and i'm usually 'right.' well, of course i am... i'm looking at the world from my own perspective, so why shouldn't i be right?

but i digress...

my former employer lost me because of one simple thing: they didn't show me that they appreciated me. now i'm not saying that their appreciation would have made up for the lack of progress and ability to improve my own lot, at least not eternally, but it would have helped. it would have made the three years of MY life that i gave them seem a little more worth my while. and it wouldn't have cost them a penny.

now they've lost me. and because i've decided to move to vancouver, and because nuala and i want to be together, and because nuala also works for the same company, they are losing her too. but they have an opportunity to save her... nuala is a graphic designer. a damn good one too. now, if you know anything about graphic design, you'll know that it's the type of job that could be done remotely, via computer and the internet. and you would think, with a magazine needing to be produced 5x per year, and countless web ads, print ads, and flyers needing to be produced, they would jump at the opportunity to keep her - being that she's good, she's affordable and, let's not forget, SHE'S ALREADY TRAINED!

but they've decided to play games. they've known for five weeks that nuala will be leaving at the end of august. do you think they've given her one iota of information about what they think about keeping her on as a tele-commuter? no, not one. today they had a 'marketing meeting' to discuss how to move the business forward in a cost-effective way. nuala brought up the fact that with me gone, her going, and another woman also leaving at the end of the month (do you see a trend developing here?) it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to plan a marketing and promotion strategy until they've figured out who is going to be doing what, and where!

do you think they gave her one iota of an answer? do you think they even acknowledged her point? you guessed it. bing bing bing. we have a winner! (in case you couldn't sift through the hyperbole, the answer is no.)

so, i spent three years working for this company, and in all the time i was there, i was continually surprised by these ass-backwards ways of doing things. and yet i stayed, and stayed, and stayed. and now that i'm gone, i'm still surprised.

so, in the end, who is it really who has got it ass-backward?

you got it. me.

/pk