Random Rants

Thus begins what will become a recurring section on the blog: Random Rants. As the name suggests, here is where I will fire off a random rant toward management, the government, family, or anyone else who appear in my cross hairs. Here goes...

Hey Mr. Boss Man,

I have been tasked with a job, by you or someone you have designated. Apparently I do my job a little too effectively for your taste. I know you like to sit up in your ivory tower caressing your golden throne, insulated from the daily mundane tasks a properly trained monkey could accomplish, but your job is to back up your employees on the front lines, in this case, of labor warfare.

My job is to ensure a delicate balance and maintain peace between employee morale, irrational union representatives, unmotivated employees, incompetent supervisory and management officials, lack of leadership accompanied by over-mismanagement, and a little thing called, The Law.

The Law gives the Agency (a.k.a.: management) certain rights regarding how to run the organization. Additionally, it outlines what are and are not legal behaviors for our unions to engage.

Boss, you frustrate me beyond belief. All day long I deal with irrational union presidents and stewards. They are bullies. When they don't get what they want, when they want it, they throw tantrums. They send emails to you and your boss, write congressmen, senators and the President, file unfair labor practices and attempt to make life unbearable. This is where you should step up and support your staff instead of instructing us to back off. I'm sure if I backed off and acquiesced to their every demand you would not hear anything from them and your "throne-time" would pass uninterrupted. I'm also sure if I did that it would be reflected in my performance appraisal.

I, more than anyone else, know how important it is to choose battles small enough to win but large enough to matter, but you need to understand a simple distinction between involvement and commitment.

Take a ham and egg breakfast for example. In a ham and egg breakfast, the chicken is involved; the pig is committed. You may be involved, but my rump is on the line in how I perform my duties.

Instead of the typical knee-jerk reaction you have, which is instructing me to back off, maybe you should ask, "What the hell is going on?" Once you have the facts, you'll know I'm on top of things and taking fire to protect you and the organization from out of control union militants.

Seek first the information to make an informed decision. You may be surprised to know that the unions are pushing for more control over the organization and I and my team are fighting them off and keeping them from running the organization into the ground.

I hope this helps. Have a great day and let me do my job.

Sincerely,

Old Fart