Excellence in Mediocrity

I work for "The State" which means a lot of things to many people. Coincidently, there is a lot of truism in the maxim "good enough for government work" although it technically does not apply to my area as funding is highly associated with accuracy.

Nonetheless, I was obligated to attend an awards ceremony earlier. When you add food to the agenda, you don't even need to ask me to attend. I'll be there. Free food is a driving force in my life. Interestingly, so is diarrhea. There could be a correlation, but I refuse to acknowledge it.

As the awards moved on, there were some that I could endorse -- 30 years working for The State, etc. Towards the bottom of the barrel, the awards struggled to be good. Two categories that caught my attention were 'an award for having your computer turned on the most at 8am exactly; an award for taking the most punctual lunch break consecutively.' How do you applaud that sort of an award? Like this, the slow meaningful clap, nodding appropriately while holding a contrite face as if you narrowly lost it, but it couldn't have gone to a better contender.

Sure, these may be pet awards so that everyone is a winner. Or worse -- it could be what I am striving to achieve myself. I hope not, because I don't want them. If I ever did win it, then I'd consider myself a drone. And that leads into my next issue; a calm sea of blandness.

At The State, it seems that personality, character, or anything that would differentiate you from the cubicle sheep is a no-no, despite "celebrating diversity" (another issue for another day). No one stands out really. No one dares to and I am sure I'll learn why as well. Until then, it's to the assimilation blocks.

It should be noted that I do appreciate my job, but at the same time, I never feel like I should suggest much of anything because someone will feel you are usurping their position or even appearing like you could get a position they want. Someone complained when I stated the Nazi's were stupid. Apparently my opinion didn't fly with someone who didn't think the Nazi's were stupid. So now I am rather unassuming, blending neatly into an ocean of blandness. Some day I'll get the dream job within The State, but by then, I'll be gazing the same grass as my fellow peers. Happy, bland sheep in a sea of 5 foot cubicles.