Fabulous Friday

Friday is going to be my "happy post" day - and what better week to start it than when my happy post goes right along with my Thursday rant? How can this be, you ask? Because while my job does kinda suck right now, I have some amazing/crazy/fun co-supervisors and we have a pretty badass fearless leader.

The agenda for our sups meeting today had approximately 538 items. About two of them were happy. Yet somehow, I came away from the meeting/day feeling a lot better about my job. More overwhelmed. Definitely more stressed out. Added several things to my to-do list. But overall, it was a great day. A good meeting with fun people. It sounds cheesy, I know - but even, or maybe especially, in crappy times, it is really, really nice to be able to come away feeling good.

I don't have much to compare it to - seven years is the longest commitment I've ever made to anything, let alone a job. I've worked at the same agency, in the same department, my entire "adult"/post-college life. I have even had the same supervisor the entire time. I've loved and hated the job (and my boss - just kidding!) during the last seven years... wanted to scream, cry, quit... but I know what I do makes a difference. And I know a big part of that is the people I'm surrounded by - my crew, my co-sups, and my boss make the bad days easier and the fun times WAY better.

So, fools - here's to you.

Thursday Rant (a day late)

I've been thinking about this Thursday Rant for two weeks... and have been dealing with it for much longer than that. 

I. Hate. Change.

I also hate surprises, which I maybe consider a type of change, but that's a completely different rant.

Anyway - change is not my friend. Maybe I should say I suck at dealing with change, which would be really self-reflective and honest. So what do I do when confronted with change? Here's a brief rundown, with a completely hypothetical (or not) situation. 

1. Deny it's happening. (New office? Nope. Not happening. This girl is going NOWHERE.)

2. Complain about it. (Whyyyyy??? whhhhyyyy??)

3. Talk about it incessantly. (blah, blah, blah - my apologies to anyone who has had to be around me for the last few months.)

4. Procrastinate. (We're moving in 9 days? Oh, I don't need to pack seven years' worth of crap yet. I have time.) 

I don't have time. In nine days, some movers are going to cart SEVEN YEARS of my life across town. I haven't even looked at some of the stuff in my desk in probably three years, but I'm pretty sure it is all super important. And given that I'm a work hoarder and throw away pretty much nothing, sorting through it over the next week is going to be a chore. Not to mention all my personal belongings that I have scattered around my office... some of which aren't going to fit. If anyone has a method for picking which picture of your kids to hang up in your office (because there are about six of each of them currently)... let me know. I have Thursday blocked off for packing. 

Thursday Rant: "-ists"

At some point, I had decided I want this blog to be about happy things - positive things - but then I decided that's not real life. Sometimes, things suck. People suck. So, on Thursdays, I'm going to rant about those things. (I'll pick another day to post happy things to even it out.)

On this particular Thursday, my rant is about "-ists" - I absolutely cannot stand when people are sexist, racist, etc. This includes people who are judge-y to others because they think their own political views are superior, or their religion or lack thereof is superior, or people who shove their beliefs down others' throats.

Why are we still talking about issues of race or gender or sexual orientation or political party or religious affiliation? I think it's depressing that my kids are growing up in a world where it has to be said that people are equal. Shouldn't that be understood by now? To me, it's pretty simple. Every person needs and wants the same things - acceptance. Tolerance. Love. Understanding. Friendship. (Let me tell you one of my faults - when something is so clear and easy to me, I have a hard time figuring out why other people can't see it.) If my children learn nothing else from me, I want it to be this: we are ALL equal.

Male, female, transgender, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, Republican, Democrat, Independent, gay, straight, Catholic, Baptist, Muslim, atheist, independently wealthy, welfare recipient, CEO, unemployed - these are just labels for PEOPLE. Human beings. None of these things are inherently bad or wrong. Are some of them different than me or you? Yes. But should someone be persecuted or devalued because of that? Absolutely not. I don't have the same views or beliefs of a lot of the labels listed above, but that doesn't mean I should not care for those people or value them or should deny them. It's time to realize that everyone has something to bring to the table, that nobody is more or less important or more or less deserving of basic rights because of "who" or "what" they are.

Rant over.