As the World Turns

Damn, it's almost been a full week since I've logged a post in bloggerville. Luckily for my sanity, I've written a bit elsewhere, but this is the longest I've gone without a virtual post since the inception of The Office Diaries in early October. I feel like I have to reacquaint myself with an old friend. I'd ask how you are all doing, but I'm pretty sure I only get a visitor once or twice a week. If I'm missing any regular readers, I apologize.

Today was my last official day as sales manager for my wonderful company (no sarcasm in that comment...). We finally found someone to backfill for me and to get paid too little for doing too much. Actually, to use the term "we found someone" wouldn't be entirely accurate. You see, despite looks in the eye and promises from my integrity-lacking boss, I was not involved in the hiring of this person. Not even a quick phone screen.

The company I work for used to be a very special place. Not only is the business side of it interesting, but the people that worked here were great. Everyone was a former athlete, had relatively similar interests outside work, and enjoyed being in the office. Now, nobody really cares. We still have former athletes everywhere, but the "love" is gone. People don't smile as much, interact with each other, or exude any sort of positive energy. You may be thinking, "Hey pal, most companies are like that. You should be thankful you had it good for so long.", and you're right, to a certain extent. I was really lucky for a long time, but that doesn't matter to me now, nor should it. As I've said before, it's all relative. Just because most places of work aren't enjoyable places to be, doesn't mean I should be ok with the fact that my company has gone from good to bad. Anyway, to make a long story short, this is exactly the type of behavior from management that is sinking this ship like Titanic. Managers that don't know a thing about what once made the company special, and don't care about people other than themselves, are hiring more people that don't know anything about what made the company special and don't care about people other than themselves. Ignorance begets ignorance. Selfishness begets selfishness. Thuper! What's even worse about this situation is that I was promised a prominent role in picking my successor. Did that happen? Did anything remotely close to that happen? Hell no. I was lied to, pushed aside like yesterday's news, and notified of the new hire via a cheap, classless email that someone had been hired to take my place. Yep, that's corporate America. Any takers?

But wait. There is a silver lining here. The timing of this hire couldn't have been better, because the person that I am now taking over for left last Wednesday for a new job, which meant that I would have been handling all of his business and and managing 11 people until a new sales manager came in for me. Now I don't have to worry about that and I can get busy gettin' busy with my new job. Yee ha! Mr. Me is a happy man. Part of this transition means that I was able to clear my calendar of all recurring meetings today. That's approximately 20 hours per week of meetings that no longer exist on my calendar......saaaweeeet! This new found freedom allows me a heck of a lot of flexibility in my workdays, which in turn gives me the chance to go to the gym during lunch every day like I used to do before I joined the ranks of management/slavery. And trust me, I need exercise right now like I need air. To say I've put on a few pounds in the last year is like saying Chris Farley needed to lose a few pounds. I look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, and it's a new sensation that I'd like never to feel again.

So there's that. I suppose you could say I've mentally turned lemons into lemonade at work. I went through a bit of a rough patch, finished off by a less than professional situation, but now things are looking up. I'm a much better person because of my experience and I see great things in my future, regardless of whether or not I stay at this company. I can't wait to see what's around the corner and you can look forward to hearing all about it. And I do apologize in advance for that.


Cheers,
TWF