All Apologies
The apocalypse is disrupting work. Too bad.
So, LA was on fire, you might have heard about that.
Given that Amy (CANNED’s producer) is in LA, there have been some delays. She’s okay, I’m relieved to report, but cutting audio is behind staying safe and helping out, which is as it should be.
There are two LA folks on the day job project I’m on right now. One apologized in advance for any possible interruptions in our calls, see, their kid’s school burned down so said kid was at home, unexpectedly.
Good lord did that make me angry. Not at my coworker, no, but that their go-to was to apologize for the inconvenience of living amid an enormous disaster. It got me thinking about how we apologize for the impact on our productivity when we have a sick or even dying family member, heartbreak at the end of a relationship, the loss of a pet, a physical injury. We apologize for having a migraine, and let me tell you, friends, I get migraines. I choose the meeting every time.
An old friend called me last week, he’d been canned for poor performance. I won’t tell his story; I hope once his head has cleared, he’ll tell you himself, but I will say his year was a nightmare. Of course he wasn’t doing his best work, he was putting out metaphoric fire after fire. He told his employer about said fires. He… got fired.
I’m done apologizing for things I don’t control, and even those I do. I’m not longer saying “I’m sorry, can we reschedule, my head feels like it’s literally going to explode.” I might provide a why if I’m feeling generous – “I need a day, I had some dental work done and feel like crap, please reschedule this for tomorrow” – but I’m done prefacing any of it with an apology.
“I’m in an apocalyptic fire,” – metaphoric or actual – should not require an apology as a preface. We’re not doing that anymore. Not at work. Nope. Okay? Okay.
There’s a bunch of great stuff coming. I spoke with a financial planner, an HR consultant, and I’ve got a union organizer in the UK on deck. (Still looking for that US based wobbly to talk with.) There are a bunch of great stories with thoughts about likeability and how that’s sexist bullshit, what we want as workers out of our jobs, and getting canned as gateway to figuring out what you really want to do.
We’ll say thank you – “LA was on fire, so thanks for understanding things are delayed” – but we won’t apologize, right? Right.
In the meantime, here’s a pizza delivery guy who got fired.
Stay safe, friends, your health and wellbeing should come first.
Send your fired friends my way, and send this email to someone who you think might enjoy CANNED.
Thank you.
See, it’s easy.
//Pam