The Contingency Plan

otherwise occupied

i have a colleague who only talks to me to complain about her job, in particular her account director. we use to be 'kindred sisters' (not my term) but for some reason she now limits our communication purely to work related subjects (perhaps i'm not spiritual enough).

i don't mind this, but last night discovered that i'm not the only one. god forbid, she's now creeping around the office leaving a trail of slanderous whispers that shimmer in the light of our all-female environment.

although i can see her point, i find it strange how she can talk to everyone but the person causing her the grief and feel justified doing it. and it's a shame as the problems started off small (misunderstandings, etc), but have now escalated to the point that she's planning to leave.

anyhow, all this talk about work with her has got me thinking about the expectations we put on our jobs. i don't think anyone i know is really happy. we all want more pay, less working hours, more glamour, less stress, amicable colleagues, empathetic managers - are we unrealistically looking for perfect jobs that don't have any challenges or downfalls?

i'm not talking about compromising your goals here, i'm just questioning whether work can be all fulfilling - just like relationships.

sophie use to look for the ideal guy that would meet her every need. anything less would be violating her standards. and the sad thing was that she dismissed so many wonderful people because they didn't fit the list. in the end, she realised that she couldn't look to someone else for total fulfilment and hooked up with someone wonderful who complimented her in a way she didn't expect.

i definitely don't know all the answers, but just wonder whether we do the same when it comes to our occupation.