Is a cubicle really as good as it gets?
Well, it better not be.
As I sit at a small, double-sided desk typing away on my post of the day, I can’t help but realize how similar this desk is to a regular office cubicle.
It eliminates my view in front of me, keeps me focused on my work, has a bright overhead light and, most importantly, it isolates me from the rest of the world.
I’m attending college courses to get a degree that will, in turn, help me in getting the job of my dreams later on. But, what exactly is the job of my dreams?
I know that I want to be writer, but I still need to decide what I’ll end up writing about. I probably won’t have even a clue of my subject matter until I’m about to graduate, but I already know one thing about my future job(s):
I better not have a fucking cubicle.
I’m not even forced to sit at this desk, but I do it most days, and I’m already starting to hate it. I couldn’t imagine having to go and sit at the same bland, run-of-the-mill desk everyday and not have the freedom to do anything else. Sure, I can think of worse things to do for a living than sitting in a cubicle, typing away on God knows what for hours and hours, but I can also think of many, much better things to do as well.
There’s a reason that the corner office is such a popular idea when people think about their dream job. It’s a symbol of how all your hard work has paid off and you’re finally at the point in your life where you’re at the top of the job/food chain. You’re literally above the people that are working below you in the business hierarchy and, most importantly, you have a better view than they do while you do your own work.
I’m not saying that I particularly want the corner office of the biggest skyscraper in the city — that actually doesn’t sound very appealing to me.
No, I’m simply saying that working in a cubicle is bad news bears. It’s a symbol of replaceability, of monotony even.
If your only link to your business is the same desk as the other 99 on your floor, then that’s a sign that you won’t be there forever. If you mess up or prove to be less efficient than the next person wanting to be hired, then the guy in the corner office can simply fire you, do the routine cubicle-clean, and bring in the next guy.
It’s a sad, depressing reality.
But, if you’re the guy in the corner office, or out in the field doing something that only you has the capability to do, you have a much lower chance of being canned.
You have individual value.
This the type of job that I aspire to have.
As a writer, I would love to be out exploring the world — possibly for National Geographic? — writing about my unique, foreign experiences. Only one person in the world will have grown up in the same environment as me, lived my same life, and endured the same struggles as me to help craft their distinct perspective of the world.
That individual is me and me alone. This uniqueness is what helps me escape the curse of the cubicle.
This is another reason that I’m drawn to writing.
Every sentence that I write down has the potential to be a completely new, never-before-uttered group of words. The people in cubicles, however, are probably crunching the exact same numbers as the other branches of the same company all across the country.
All I’m saying is that I want to have a job where my individual experiences and thoughts on life are part of what I bring to the table. If those are ever irrelevant in my job, that means that nearly anybody can have that same position and do it just as well. That means I’m … replaceable.
I’m not trying to say that working in a cubicle is awful — it has some decent advantages such as being able to decorate your desk area in any way you want, being a part of the office community, and most days will be pretty similar. If you’re into those things, then working in a cubicle will be good for you.
An office building full of cubicles and cubicles workers is very necessary to our country (that’s why there are so many), but a single worker within that building might not be as indispensable.
There’s nothing immoral about working in a cubicle setting, but it’s just not the right working environment for me.
The Rating: 32/100
Pro: A nice, stable place to work is exactly what many businesses need for their employees to do their best work.
Con: I just won’t be able to do my best work if I’m constantly sitting at a cubicle. Instead, I’ll be miserable.
About me:
My name is Jack Russillo and I’m a college freshman who just moved to the big city (Seattle) from a small town in the middle of nowhere. Every day I rate something on a scale of 1 to 100.
Comments, criticisms, your own rating, or any other topics you’d like me to rate? Tweet me @jackrussillo or follow me on Medium to get my daily posts.
Feel free to hit the “recommend” button if you liked my post so that others may find it and enjoy it as well.
