Caterwauling

Never got to post this but somehow I believe it never goes out of style.

I really prefer life when I don’t have to deal with DTOM.

This one always asks for a meeting with me. (I am never the one who says hey we should catch up. Trust me, I can find no reason to.)

If I’m free, I’m free. If I have meetings (I always have meetings), I say I can’t do X time but I can do anything at/after Y.

Then it’s always 10 conflicts.

Then when I finally say all right let’s do Z, the reply is ALWAYS let’s do Z:30.

Like they HAVE to win.

That’s such a Brad thing to do. Which I recognized then as manipulation.

Like, if you say “I know you’re busy, when can you fit me in” and I tell you I am wide open around 1, why do you suggest 1:30 every single time?

Part of me tries to assume that people don’t know they do this. But, I know how Brad had to win things that didn’t need to be battles.

So, Z:30 it is.

I read few articles recently about Gen Z attitudes in the workplace.

One was about how they choose to opt out of stupid systems that waste their time.

Another was about how they’re not lazy — they are just selective in what they want to spend their mental energy on.

In other words, unlike me in my heyday who would work 60-80 hours a week on top of 10 hours of commuting, they are like fuck you if I have to put in over 40 hours just to deal with antiquated software/systems and meetings/people/projects that are an exercise in futility.

Young me looked at the lazy elders as crazy that they weren’t fighting hard for their jobs. When people like me were literally waiting for them to die so we could have a shot at said jobs.

Middle-ish-aged me, having been burned out by all the nonsense, gets it.

Speaking of exercises in futility, I have Don’t Treadmill On Me chasing me for a meeting that’s going to be useless. Because we’ve already had the talk and I already said I have two ideas and you don’t like either of them.

Anytime I agree to help this person with a project they want done, I end up hearing on group calls that they got it done. Sometimes I hear a “Goddess helped” but not always.

So naturally I dodge for as long as I can.

And if you think I’m lazy, fucking go for it.

It’s the opposite, actually.

Actively protecting my peace is worth whatever effort I put into it.

Unlike the effort I am putting in to get my people reimbursed. People who spent money on planes, trains and Ubers, not just two damn cheeseburgers at the hotel bar.

Why do receipts need to be itemized, really? They weren’t buying cocaine at the commissary.

This is the stuff the upper leadership never hears about or sees or needs to know.

But it’s the stuff that stabs people in the soul enough times to let the enthusiasm leak out over time.

And it’s the stuff that, when there’s an extra mile to be gone, makes everyone say nah, I’m good at this mile marker.