I am here to help you to find, take back, and keep your righteous mind

(photos are courtesy of www.veer.com)

For the past month I've been on a production assignment.  That gig is now over.  The people with whom I worked were nice, fun and hard working.  When you work on a television or movie production it's not glamorous and the hours are long - usually 60 hour weeks.  That explains my blog hiatus in a nutshell.  This post is about a trend in acceptable behavior that is pervasive throughout this industry in which I work.  What I do for a living you can't learn in a classroom environment, it is all on the job training.  That means someone must show or teach you how things work.  For example I had to learn several accounting computer programs in order to run a efficient office and in order to lead and manage a staff.  Once I was shown what to do, I had to then get an understanding of why I was doing it so that the office efficiency can be excellent.

You see it's pointless to teach a person something if you don't explain why they are doing it.  Here's a simple visual.  A mother has a bright, very smart, child who has heard of tooth brushing, was taught how to brush his teeth but was never told why he should brush them.  The child has no clue of the repercussion of the failure to brush so he challenges his mother, as children will do. Petty arguments escalate and the child doesn't brush his teeth for a month or two.  The mother still hasn't girded the child with any information, resulting in tooth decay, and other health conundrums.  All the leader of that child had to do was give accurate direction coupled with the reasons why and many future problems could have been averted.

[Work rant alert]
Well I told that story because in my experience attaining the information and direction that I feel I needed to be able to apply for and land the positions I wanted, I encountered varying levels of direct sabotage by the very women who dispensed the information to me. One of my new coworkers was going through the very type of sabotage that I experienced years before.  You see the regular woman fell ill and decided to take off for a month, thus I was hired to fill in.  I was told that this woman hardly taught my coworker anything he needed to know in order to perform his job.  So I along with our office mate taught my coworker some basics [and I mean basics] that he needed to learn.  His words verbatim were, "I really enjoy coming to work now because it's not a tense atmosphere, I'm not being verbally abused and I'm learning how to do things.  That woman thinks I'm stupid."  I was then regaled with stories about how rude she was with many people on the production - but she knows the function of the job extremely well.  Therefore the studio suits and production big wigs find that valuable.  I felt so sorry for my coworker because I knew what he was going through and this woman was expected to return to the job, with the powers that be knowing how unpopular she was with basically everyone associated with this production.  THAT'S the pervasive spirit that I speak about once and a while.  When I refer to someone as crazy or psycho it's typically someone who is functionally [book or technically] smart but socially rude and often quite lonely.  Therefore they tend to verbally abuse and even attempt to intimidate anyone in their path.  You see in entertainment crazy people boar you to tears with the details of their personal lives.  Typically you share an office with these people anywhere from 12 to 14 hours per day. And then they expect you to answer all of their nosy questions.  Someone asking you a personal question is not an automatic requisite for you to answer them.  When you declare your privacy, crazy people get offended without a notion that they are the ones who have stepped out of line.  I am huge about keeping people in line with me.  That may not always make me popular but at the end of the day, you know where you stand and you'll fall in line.  What can I say New Yorkers are pretty darn cool diligent about letting you know exactly where you stand with them.  That is often misunderstood as being overbearing and rude.  All we are saying is here's a line in the sand don't cross it and all will be just fine.  We'll give you the same respect.  Imagine such bliss.

Bottom line is people WANT TO TELL THEIR STORY,  I am not exempt from that.  Just establish a natural, organic relationship with people and the stories will begin to flow.  No need to ask nosy questions.  It is in relationship that you will be chock full of all the information you crave.  JUST REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO BE A STEWARD OF THE INFORMATION THAT YOU RECEIVE.  Relax and remember the art of making friends.  And that karma is a real thing.  What you sew you reap.  Crazy people never bother to learn that lesson which is what qualifies them to be crazy. [Rant over.]

[Sneaking in Movie Quote Monday alert]

Who is the judge?

The judge is God.

Why is he God?

Because he decides who wins or loses not my opponent.

Who is your opponent?

He doesn't exist.

Why does he not exist?

Because he is a mere dissenting voice of the truth I speak!

From :"The Great Debaters"

This is dedicated to my former coworker E.H.  Just know that your opponent doesn't exist. All followers are leaders in disguise. And I know exactly what you're going through.  Crazy may not cease but she'll slow down. Keep your head up man...