Sympathy for the Devil

[hocus]

The corporate employer is "the Devil" at this forum. To a point, that's OK by me. Wage slavery sucks a lot of life out of a lot of souls.

The other side of the story is that the pre-Retire Early years are a wonderful time of life too. It's a healthy impulse to want to escape wage slavery as one ages. It's not so healthy to ignore the good side of the pre-Retire Early stage of life.

Here's a list of five things that I miss since the day I handed in my resignation from corporate employment:

1) The Challenge. There are times when you are asked to accomplish the near impossible, and you pull it off. That's a neat feeling. It's a good thing to be tested, so long as the testing process is not causing health problems or interfering with important things like your family life or efforts at self discovery and creativity. Experiencing reasonable levels of stress is a sign of being alive.

2) Relationships Formed in the Foxhole. Corporate politics can be creepy, and some people allow the quest for the big office to ruin their personalities. Most do not. People called to work for a common goal usually develop connections with each other. You learn things about people you work with that you would not learn from the types of interactions you have at restaurants and picnics.

3) Confirmation of Worth. I never let my job define me. But it became easier after a few years of employment for me to define myself than it was when I was just starting out. One thing that a job offers to a young person is the opportunity to have an objective appraisal of his or her abilities. Today, the building of self-esteem is a big deal in the schools. But hearing someone tell you that you did a great job when you know in your heart that you only did an average job doesn't build confidence much. Having a demanding boss tell you that you're ready for a promotion does.

4)The Reach of the Corporate Job. On bad days, corporate jobs turn you into a cog in a machine. On good days, you can use the machine to your advantage to affect people you could never reach through your own resources. Corporate journalism at times tends toward pablum. But corporate publishers have large distribution arms. So when you are able to maneuver them into publsihing something good, it matters.

5) The Toughening of Intellect. Most participants of this board are pretty smart about how the world works. We weren't born that way, though. I've learned a lot of good negotiating tricks watching the masters perform at my places of work. There's a lot of goofiness published by the human resources and public relations departments. But there are some smart moves being made by the people who get things done. You can learn a lot from them in a few years if you keep your eyes and ears open.

[unclemick]

American SST, Skylab, Viking, Space Shuttle - I enjoyed my sojourn as one grunt among many in that part of history.

I really, really, really enjoy ER.

[bruce1]

Jagger/Richards

Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man's soul and faith
And I was 'round when jesus christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game
I stuck around st. petersburg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain
I rode a tank
Held a general's rank
When the blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
Ah, what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah
I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the gods they made
I shouted out,
Who killed the kennedys?
When after all
It was you and me
Let me please introduce myself
I/m a man of wealth and taste
And I laid traps for troubadours
Who get killed before they reached bombay
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what's confusing you
Is just the nature of my game
Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails
Just call me lucifer
'cause I'm in need of some restraint
So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politesse
Or I'll lay your soul to waste, um yeah
Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, um yeah
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, um mean it, get down
Woo, who
Oh yeah, get on down
Oh yeah
Oh yeah!
Tell me baby, what's my name
Tell me honey, can ya guess my name
Tell me baby, what's my name
I tell you one time, you're to blame
What's me name
Tell me, baby, what's my name
Tell me, sweetie, what's my name
Ooo, who, who
Oh, yeah

[BUM]

Quote:

Jagger/Richards Please allow me to introduce myself I'm a man of wealth and taste I've been around for a long, long year Stole many a man's soul and faith And I was 'round when jesus christ Had his moment of doubt and pain Made damn sure that pilate Washed his hands and sealed his fate Pleased to meet you Hope you guess my name But what's puzzling you Is the nature of my game I stuck around st. petersburg When I saw it was a time for a change Killed the czar and his ministers Anastasia screamed in vain I rode a tank Held a general's rank When the blitzkrieg raged And the bodies stank Pleased to meet you Hope you guess my name, oh yeah Ah, what's puzzling you Is the nature of my game, oh yeah I watched with glee While your kings and queens Fought for ten decades For the gods they made I shouted out, Who killed the kennedys? When after all It was you and me Let me please introduce myself I/m a man of wealth and taste And I laid traps for troubadours Who get killed before they reached bombay Pleased to meet you Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah But what's puzzling you Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby Pleased to meet you Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah But what's confusing you Is just the nature of my game Just as every cop is a criminal And all the sinners saints As heads is tails Just call me lucifer 'cause I'm in need of some restraint So if you meet me Have some courtesy Have some sympathy, and some taste Use all your well-learned politesse Or I'll lay your soul to waste, um yeah Pleased to meet you Hope you guessed my name, um yeah But what's puzzling you Is the nature of my game, um mean it, get down Woo, who Oh yeah, get on down Oh yeah Oh yeah! Tell me baby, what's my name Tell me honey, can ya guess my name Tell me baby, what's my name I tell you one time, you're to blame What's me name Tell me, baby, what's my name Tell me, sweetie, what's my name Ooo, who, who Oh, yeah

Thanks bruce1,

This is my kind of long post! Also thanks for straightening me out on the lyrics... I thought it was " all your well-learned politics". But then again I thought "the girl with kalideoscope eyes" was "a girl with colitis goes by".

BUM

[gratefuled]

"'Scuse me, while I kiss this guy."

"Blinded by the light: wrapped up like a douche, another runner in the night."

Etc., etc.

[Hyperborea]

"Bathroom on the right."

[cute fuzzy bunny]

"A kayak . . . on snow . . . a mountain
There's a mountain on the beach?
It was under the beach"

"I wanta kiss a buffalo!" My little daughter's version
of "I wanta kiss you all over!"

JG

[Craig]

So glad to see others have been audially-challenged over the years. I never get the lyrics right.

My sister-in-law did the "bathroom on the right" deal ... cracked me up.

Yes, corporate jobs do have those good points. But I'll look forward to the day when I can look back on all of those challenges, and say, yeah ... been there, done that ... but today, I would rather see if the fish are biting, that rifle still shoots 1 moa on a calm day, and that bike sounds as sweet on a beautiful country road ...

[preben]

I won't miss a thing from my work place - except the salary and perks of course!

[Beachbumz]

I never really had a corporate job. In HS and early college, I did work as a pharmacy technician for a fairly small chain (100 stores). I did actually enjoy for the most part my interaction with the customers, some of which were very bad off, but still had great attitudes. I also enjoyed working with my most of my co-workers.

I did get to experience a little of corporate life I guess. My manager verbally abused me in front of customers, so I quit on the spot (can't usually do that in the real world though). He called and begged me to come back. I did, but he had to cough up another .25 per hour .

Then, I answered the phone one day only to be immediately cussed out by the vice-president of the company. When he was done ranting, I asking who he might be wanting to talk to (he assumed I was the pharmacist ).

Finally, I watched, what I thought was a great manager (different than the one who was abusive), get fired because there was a problem with the "numbers". He was replaced by a manager that was younger than me, I was 21 and the asst-mgr by then. I quit. The new manager lasted 4 months.

I decided then that the corporate life wasn't for me!

Beachbumz