25 & Trying

Calendar of Doom & Gloom.

Arrogance

My BFF/Office-mate Shelley purchased a calendar for me for my birthday. It is one of those ironic and sometimes depressing despair.com calendars that pins irony against irony to create one of the most deprecating desk ornaments ever.

It was at a particularly low moment here at work that she offered up this gift. We hadn’t become close friends yet and the little crazy – fest of campaign people had not yet evolved. Sometimes it is the people that make the job. The calendar was a little reminder that sometimes, sarcasm can get us through.

This month’s message proclaims: Meetings. None of Us is as Dumb as All of Us. Half of you readers just thought to yourselves – “I KNOW. That’s so true.” The other half were like “What does this calendar have to do with anything remotely humorous or relevant?”

So you are both right, somehow. Sarcasm and mutual misery are common ways that people get through tough times at work. The water cooler is not just an iconic image of middle management, but also the symbol of the fact that talking crap about our jobs is common almost everywhere.

Nowadays, the modern social media platform gives us PLENTY of bitching room. We can complain wherever we want, and there are a million and one ways to share our “status” with the world. Google Buzz. Gchat. Facebook. Twitter. LinkedIn (mistake there, probably.) The list is endless.

For me, social media has actually had the opposite effect on my complaining. It has decreased it. Sure, despair.com’s calendar still sits on my desk – and gets a hearty laugh from my boss every now and then – but I guess I don’t feel the need to complain all the time.

Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t because work is problem free. No one’s job is problem free. I just think that the more paths to complaining we have , the more in a rut we can get. Happy hours are amazing. Especially when they are here, but there is a time when the words get you no further.

Not every day can be an easy one, and we can’t always see the silver lining. But it’s not all despair.com’s either. It’s a combo.

AND just in case you need a chuckle – or some sarcasm of your own: my gift.