Hate the player, not the game: 11/22/05

I've fought and fought and knashed my teeth about this, but I am helpless in the face of temptation. I really don't want this space to be filled with work-hatred vitriol...but I can't think of what else to write about just now.

Except for the hilarious scene of Prez Bush chit-chatting with Marshmallow the pardoned Thanksgiving Turkey. Priceless. But just a thought here: should we be pardoning birds as we are preparing for the entire human race to be brought to its knees by their very own flu strain? Hearing about the Bird Flu doom we will all be facing shortly does not make me feel to charitable towards our avian friends right now...Marshmallow should have marched to the gallows.

But I was going to complain about work, wasn't I? Yes. Sometimes, when I am struck by the force of my own dislike for a work colleague, I think to myself, "You know, there are people that actually like this person...seek out their company, laugh at their jokes, etc. In fact, there are probably people that LOVE this person." Incredible.

Now, this is not to say that I should be influenced at all by this fact. Becuase the whole nature of my relationship with said colleague is based on MONETARY GAIN. In other words, I am getting paid to interact with this person. Were that factor to be suspended, I doubt we'd be within spitting distance of eachother. The people that acutally like this colleague and don't get paid to hang around with him/her--well, they must be getting some other payoff in the form of emotional currency.

And this is the thing: All of us have annoying quirks and less than fabulous traits going on. But we expect the people who love and care about us to love and care about us IN SPITE OF these annoyances. It's a tradeoff. If you overlook how I have a really annoying habit of squeezing toothpaste tubes all wrong and how I can tend to be inexcusably hypocritical about some things and use that obnoxious voice to my cat ALL the time--well, I'll pretty much give you my undying love and adoration. If that's what I'm into doing with you.

With a work colleague though, I get no real emotional payback from the realationship*. The way I see it, I am getting paid to put up with someone's annoying habits and quirks because they make more money than me and are more important. Someday, if I'm lucky, some poor sap will be paid to put up with mine. But as things stand now, I've come the conclusion that I simply DON'T GET PAID ENOUGH to put up with the EXTENT OF THE QUIRKINESS I am faced with at work.

I am not paid nearly enough to care enough to rise above it and overlook it and chuckle over it. Forgetaboutit.

*This is a typo, but look at the irony! Look!