Not in my job description (An Inspiration Monday post)

My latest Inspiration Monday effort:

“Get it out of my sight!  Does this office look like a vet’s?  Or a crèche for animals?  Unless I am very much mistaken you are paid to do a job.  Your job has nothing to do with caring for animals so get it out of here, right now!  This is not in my job description and it is definitely not in yours.  And if anyone tries this trick again you’ll be looking for a new job before you can even attempt an apology!”

She slammed the door as loudly as possible and stomped back to her desk.  She was furious.  How dare they treat her like this!  It was like being back at school with all the children pulling her hair just because she had more active brain cells than them.  Here she was, thirty years on and nothing had changed.  She, the clever one, was being picked on by those who had not been favoured with her drive and intelligence.  Of course she knew that not everyone could be as bright as her but it was so frustrating to see their complete lack of effort.  Imagine what they could do if they only tried rather than constantly giving up before they even got going.    

For goodness sake, they could barely be bothered to clean their own shoes in the morning and the office attire paraded in front of her each day would make even the least fashion-conscious cry in despair.  She didn’t even want to start on the quality of their work.  If she’d had her own way she would have sacked the lot of them and started again from scratch with a whole new breed of workers.  Ones that understood the need to work hard, to give everything and not to complain at the first sight of difficulty.  Why they thought that they should be entitled to do what she did without any effort was beyond her.  It had taken her years at the grindstone to get where she was now.  If they had half as much pride as she did wouldn’t they want to work hard and put in the hours to achieve great success?

It seemed so simple.  Work hard, achieve much.  Work little, achieve nothing.  Maybe she should turn it into the office mantra or add it to their Mission Statement.  It would never work.  They were clearly too far gone.  Being paid for attendance rather than for activity.  What on earth her predecessor had seen in this particular collection of village idiots was beyond her.

The role was meant to have been a leap up the career ladder.  Her defining moment.  Instead she was being reduced to dealing with ridiculous pranksters, or getting to the bottom of “personal issues” so terrible that weeks of leave seemed to be required for no apparent reason.  The “office cat” was just another straw on the camel’s back.  But she would not break.  Not this time.  No, breaking was all in the past.  The years of attack for being the bright one, the future star, had hardened her resolve.  This time she would win.

(http://bekindrewrite.net/2012/01/02/inspiration-monday-waking-up-to-silence/)