It's a dog-eat-dog world out there...

...and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear. -Norm from "Cheers"

I've decided I'm just not cut out for Corporate America. I'm not vindictive, I won't throw someone under the bus to get ahead, I attempt to provide positive feedback and constructive criticism, and I give co-workers respect. Yep. I'm a goner.

It's no secret that I'm not a big fan of my job -- the tasks itself are ok, but the work environment often makes me want to jump off the building (which really wouldn't do much, it's only 2 stories tall). I cannot believe the level of "me me me" I deal with on a daily basis. Granted, my industry is notorious for its plethora of primadonnas...but the sheer number of them in such a small company is boggling. This is a soul-crushing place.

An example of my day: After a meeting with the President of the company (where he makes a phone call to prove me wrong and then continues an irrelevant conversation after insulting me), I had a "chat" with a superior about the layout of a letter I had drafted. Now, each of the higher-ups received a copy of this letter before it went to print (twice) for comments...it's only after I have printed 500 of them that they comment. Typical.

We are also in the middle of a massive project -- one that usually requires the addition of a full-time employee to spend their day working on this project. Have we done that? Nope. Instead, the already-overflowing workloads of the peons are increased exponentially. We are to blame if something doesn't go perfectly (and when you're talking about a project that involves hundreds of millions of dollars and almost 1,000 accounts, nothing's going to go perfectly), and ignored when things do go well.

I'm tired of having to constantly defend my actions. I'm tired of everyone assuming I'm absolutely incompetent. I'm tired of being the scapegoat when someone is looking to throw some blame around. I'm tired of it.

I have a feeling it's not abnormal, though...which is why I think I'll become a pirate. Maybe a freelance terrorist. Professional Mattress Tester. Personal Shopper. ANYTHING but a scapegoat in Corporate America.

Time for some Prozac...