What do you really want?

I’m getting really, really sick of people who whine about their present situation yet when you ask them what they really want and what they’re doing to get there, they whine along the lines of, “Why’re you asking me that question? I don’t know!”

If you’re in a hole, stop digging!

Don’t even suggest to them that they should start looking at setting short-, medium and long-term goals. Oh hell no!

It’s frustrating when someone consistently turns in sub-standard work because they’re miserable and couldn’t be bothered to do any better. When I try to point out ways in which certain individuals can improve their work (in this case writing), they get short with me. Yet I’m the one who has to correct the same mistakes in said individuals’ writing time and time again. Please excuse me if I’ve run out of tactful ways in which to broach the subject after I’ve highlighted errors for the nth time. I often feel like I’m talking to a wall for all the good it does.

Why do they continue to write uninspired words? I have better things to do with my time than correct someone else’s dangling participles over and over again. Yes, I know it’s my job to fix things but hell, writers can also show editors a little courtesy sometimes by learning from their mistakes. To not improve one’s writing suggests a mental laziness and I’m sorry, such people are only going to get so far in life. It’s a slap in my face to work with them, to be honest.

I have work ethics. I care about words. Words I work on must be as close to perfect as I can get them by the time they go to print.

I’ll add something else. I have a really shyte day-job working on advertorial for a newspaper. But I take great pride in my work despite hating it at times. It gives me the financial freedom to pursue my goals in my spare time without starving. And yes, you know what? I have dreams. I’m working step by step to attain them. I’m never satisfied with what I’ve got and I never stop imagining. But I try not to make myself and others miserable here at the office while I’m wage slave.

And yet, I’ve found ways in which I can make my day job rewarding. I regularly submit entertainment- and travel-related editorial for publication and write guest columns for the lifestyle supplement of a national newspaper. Sure, I do this for free but I have the freedom to choose my topics, which a lot of journalists don’t. Yes, I’m just a lowly sub-editor but I’ve turned aspects of this job into something I enjoy and take great pride in. I guess what I’m saying is that it’s a good thing to sometimes make the best of what can be a mundane situation.

Because you never know where showing a little chutzpah will open doors.

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