The Sausage Situation
You know how sausages are made - gunk they call meat is stuffed into tube-like casings then tied at the ends? As you may imagine, there are specifications for such things e.g. a 2-inch casing fits 10 grams of meat. Well, the boss says one day "Multiply the meat by 10 and stuff it into a 1-inch casing". Us the minion-machine operators grumble and complain, but the boss says, "The client wants the orders tomorrow - that's final". The machine makes awful grinding noises, it shudders and sputters then the shit/meat explodes and hits the fan. It all goes splattering and everyone runs for cover.
Post retail therapy - I have another insight. Slightly more hopeful, I'd like to think.
The Inferno Situation
Instead of a wiener-churning machine, there is a burning building before me. As Junior Firefighter, the Superintendent says to me "Get in there, pull out the survivors, find the source and put it out". "But the fire has gotten so huge! (I protest) Getting in will be suicide!". And the Superintendent says "The client wants the building intact and everyone in it saved - it can't be helped that they only called us after it is almost razed to the ground".
But unlike the sausage situation, I choose another option. I pick up my extinguisher (tiny as it may be to fit my petite frame), put out the flames from the outside, and assess the damage after. It won't be pretty and there may be casualties but at least we won't all get slapped in the face with leftovers scraped from the carcass of animals. (If you are doubting it - don't, I really did review a sausage plant).
4 comments:
The sausage analogy is kinda depressing...
tell me about it. hey hon weng :)
I'm back again...
I just started reading The Butterfly Hunter, which is about people with adventurous, odd jobs.
In the intro, the author notes that there are two schools of thinking about work right now. One is the idea of finding a fulfilling calling. The other is that there are a few jobs that can be fulfilling, but there are many more that are not and will never be.
Historically, work has been a means to an end. There are very few people who can only do work they love or that pays really well. We have bills, we need to live. Somewhere along the line, probably during the 1980s "the me decade", the notion that work must be fulfilling took root. This has led to half or more of working people being dissatisfied and unhappy with their jobs.
For me, the key is always balance. First, you have a job. (And, we know that many people who would like a decent-paying job do not have them.) Second, you're working through your challenges and in the end will be able to find your way. Remember that what's happening is only for now, not forever.
hey hon weng,
Glad to know you commiserate - totally agree with opinion (c) although i do hope we both know when to stop.
hi lucia - thks for the book recommendation! and yes the only constant thing is the passing of time. thk god for the hols this week.
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