A letter to my employer.

I feel that there are two trains of thought for those that “toil” away in the world of being gainfully employed. Those that wish to advance, not necessarily hierarchically, but in a way that drives you to be satisfied creatively. In that way where you are sufficiently confident that you and the team have done what is right, and have done what is good, and have done it to the best of your ability and can say that you’re sincerely proud of it.

One should be able to say that you want what your company is doing to be better. To be more efficient by working smarter. To be right. Sure, you see the flaws, and way things currently are, and you know there are alternatives, so you bring up the issues at hand and are met by the other type of person who works: The “It’s Fine” crowd. The “Don’t Change Anything” crowd. The Lifers.

Point: If something works, that doesn’t mean it’s perfect, or even good. Also, just because something is out there, doesn’t mean it’s worth anyone’s time.

This falls flat in front of the latter.

Some believe work, is what you do and to some degree you’re defined by it and because of this, you can take pride in who you are and how proud you are of what you’ve accomplished.

Others are just happy to get a check and barely put in the required effort to do exactly what the boss has said to do (usually with no questions asked, and with no challenges to its validity), and usually the boss is just doing what his boss said to do without questioning or challenging what they’re wanting.

Everyone has a boss.

Having said that, this brings up the great debate. Should you put your heart into your job, and make it something you want to be proud of even though you’re not going to get what you want or need 99% of the time? Or will time pass by slowly as you mechanically assault the time clock, punching-in and punching-out, walking, downtrodden to your bank, cashing your meager check, and retiring at age 65, if you’re lucky, never to think about the place you spent the majority of your life ever again?

It’s hard not to feel disconnected from the people I work with, and I don’t know what their motivation is for anything, except perhaps the abject fear of losing their jobs. Where’s the pride for making a quality experience anymore? Where is the feeling of discovery, and innovation, and knowing that you left it all out there…or does that even exist anymore? Did it ever exist? Have I fallen into some neo-capitalist trap where the ideologies of working and taking pride in your toil-filled existence is now a relic of a bygone age?

It hurts because I care too much. Because I see the potential and no one else will help to make what could happen actually happen.

Good night and God Bless.

— -A letter from Matt to his manager at the Golden Corral All-You-Can-Eat Country Buffet, 1997.