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Under Attack
The first time it hit, I thought I was dreaming. My head wasn’t quite right after the previous day, and my eye still hurt like hell from whatever happened last week (I can’t remember). But oddly enough, it was the eye that most dragged my consciousness forward. I don’t usually have black eyes in dreams.…
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Are Our Stories Good Enough?
Browsing through Facebook, I’m always a bit stunned to find how often we share things from strangers (i.e. the internet) instead of ourselves. It’s so easy to view others’ extraordinary achievements (“Man leaps over fire to propose to fiancée!”) as much superior to our own (“Man nervously takes wife to a park only to give…
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Every Day is Groundhog Day
It’s fascinating to think that this very moment is the culmination of everything you’ve ever learned to date—skills, habits, mannerisms, education, and even which things are truly important to you. On its own, each bit of learning seems so insignificant. But compiled over time, they represent an enormously important part of who we are. Amusingly,…
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Corporate Key to Success #4: Cubicle Decoration
After arriving at your desk, still feeling the exhilaration of your first meeting, you suddenly realize that you have no idea how you’re supposed to decorate your cubicle. Don’t worry—this happens to everyone. Not surprisingly, your first moment of panic comes you realize that everyone will judge you by your new corporate home, just as…
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In Search of the Little Things
This afternoon, an avalanche of e-mail spilled steadily into my inbox, and for a moment I wondered if somewhere a great dam had finally crumbled beneath its own weight. Support requests of many different types tumbled down the hill, and as I often try to do, I ran at them with the gusto of a…
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The Forsaken
For a little while now, I’ve tried to figure out what it is about the current political discourse that so deeply disturbs me. There are all of the obvious things on the surface: the ceaseless stalemate, the fiery (and unfruitful) rhetoric, and the growing divide among our everyday neighbors. Perhaps worst of all, most cable…
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Corporate Key to Success #3: Meetings
(This is the third in a series of posts on Corporate Orientation.) There is little doubt that the following is true: Corporations hold a tremendous amount of power in America, and this power has increased significantly in recent years. We often see it exercised in the form of large financial transactions, but where does the…
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Corporate Key to Success #2: Entrance and Navigation
(This is the second in a series of posts on Corporate Orientation.) Upon entering your shiny new corporate office building, you’ll immediately notice a couple of things. First, your hopes will be dashed by the decal on the front door informing you that bombs and guns are not allowed in the building. No one covered…
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Corporate Keys to Success: An Orientation
For anyone arriving at a corporation for the first time, overweight briefcase or purse in hand, it can be quite a shocking experience. Society simply does not do its part to prepare you for this, and most corporate orientations take place several weeks into your actual employment. The hopeful anticipation of the interview process evolves…
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The Glass Ceiling of Chivalry
Since the beginning of mankind, chivalry has held its head high as one of the great traditions of society. I’ve little doubt that if we could travel back through time, we’d see cavemen placing their companions closest to the fire, or Roman emperors ensuring that their wives had every luxury. In many men, there is…