A night of TV without Cable
I don't know what's wrong with me today, but despite the fact that I got a lot done this morning, I feel somewhat under the weather. I had a big old nap this afternoon and when I woke up, I only had the strength to grade four exams and then flop down in front of the TV - except that I have no cable. This means that I have to scrounge around for something to watch.
I think that cable TV is pretty useless. It is a huge time waster and isn't worth the cost. I could go out to another dinner with friends with the money for even the most basic package. However, when you're actually looking to waste time for once, it becomes somewhat of a liability (yes, even with my beloved Internet mere moments away). I had no good books in the house and I couldn't concentrate on anything academid, so, TVland it was! On my TV I get about 3 Canadian channels in English, 4 Canadian channels in French and 3 American channels (ABC, FOX, PBS) that are really fuzzy but workable in desperate times. Right now, PBS is on but I actually watched one of the English Canadian channels - Global. What did I watch? The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.
Yeah, yeah. Never mind the actual content of the show. I won't watch it again unless I get sick every Wednesday but watching it triggered a little pet peeve of mine. On these Apprentice shows, there are two teams of about 8 people. Each week someone gets chosen project manager and is designated the leader on that week's task. Each week, someone from the losing team gets fired. This week, the woman who led the losing team triggered one of my pet peeves: managers who can't do anything except manage. Let me preface my comments with the fact that I have only seen this one show and so I don't know if in previous weeks she was actually useful. Now, have you ever worked with someone who thinks that they are so creative, organized and efficient, except that they are not any of those things? This woman was it. She had her team brainstorm about ideas for 6 hours and then they could barely buy the things they needed for the task because the stores were closing! The next day, she doesn't think that time management was the reason that they lost the task. And the entire time she maintained this demeanor of "I am an executive and I shall present myself as such." Lady, you're not an actress so the presentation of an image just isn't enough. She wasn't fired, but she should have been.
Right, so really this is about people who present themselves to be something that they are not. They are only well versed in the art of deflecting the blame. They show up in the correct colour and cut of business suit. They speak in the correct manner. Their hair is correctly done. Really, though, they are huge liabilities. They can't offer anything of substance, not even some "go team" spirit. They worry excessively about themselves and the state of their careers.
A few years ago, my mum cared for a woman like this. She was a retired insurance executive who had focused her entire life on her career without developing any aimiable qualities. Apparently, she was a horror. She wanted her kleenexes folded just so and reused twice. She watched the fridge like a hawk - and not in the regular "I'm elderly and I lived through the Depression" way. Please note that I'm not making any comment upon her gender. This could have been a man as well. I'm just saying that she didn't cultivate any sense of community (which doesn't need to be a family in the conventional sense). These "managers" only know how to watch people like hawks and tell them off when they've done something wrong. They can't help anybody do something right. They can't help anybody feel better about themselves.
You see this a lot in older male executives as well - especially middle level type managers. Often, they have neglected cultivating close friendships and find themselves alone and cranky, feeling used and discared in their old age. They only order people around and they haven't learned to compromise with others, to give of themselves or to humble themselves and admit that they need company/help or what have you. I think that Hollywood has idealized this grumpy old man type, but I don't think that it is endearing.
Beware, young men and women. Beware. Don't abandon the chance to cultivate real friendships, and importantly real romantic relationships, just to appear sucessful to everybody else. It could bite you in the behind later on.
I think that cable TV is pretty useless. It is a huge time waster and isn't worth the cost. I could go out to another dinner with friends with the money for even the most basic package. However, when you're actually looking to waste time for once, it becomes somewhat of a liability (yes, even with my beloved Internet mere moments away). I had no good books in the house and I couldn't concentrate on anything academid, so, TVland it was! On my TV I get about 3 Canadian channels in English, 4 Canadian channels in French and 3 American channels (ABC, FOX, PBS) that are really fuzzy but workable in desperate times. Right now, PBS is on but I actually watched one of the English Canadian channels - Global. What did I watch? The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.
Yeah, yeah. Never mind the actual content of the show. I won't watch it again unless I get sick every Wednesday but watching it triggered a little pet peeve of mine. On these Apprentice shows, there are two teams of about 8 people. Each week someone gets chosen project manager and is designated the leader on that week's task. Each week, someone from the losing team gets fired. This week, the woman who led the losing team triggered one of my pet peeves: managers who can't do anything except manage. Let me preface my comments with the fact that I have only seen this one show and so I don't know if in previous weeks she was actually useful. Now, have you ever worked with someone who thinks that they are so creative, organized and efficient, except that they are not any of those things? This woman was it. She had her team brainstorm about ideas for 6 hours and then they could barely buy the things they needed for the task because the stores were closing! The next day, she doesn't think that time management was the reason that they lost the task. And the entire time she maintained this demeanor of "I am an executive and I shall present myself as such." Lady, you're not an actress so the presentation of an image just isn't enough. She wasn't fired, but she should have been.
Right, so really this is about people who present themselves to be something that they are not. They are only well versed in the art of deflecting the blame. They show up in the correct colour and cut of business suit. They speak in the correct manner. Their hair is correctly done. Really, though, they are huge liabilities. They can't offer anything of substance, not even some "go team" spirit. They worry excessively about themselves and the state of their careers.
A few years ago, my mum cared for a woman like this. She was a retired insurance executive who had focused her entire life on her career without developing any aimiable qualities. Apparently, she was a horror. She wanted her kleenexes folded just so and reused twice. She watched the fridge like a hawk - and not in the regular "I'm elderly and I lived through the Depression" way. Please note that I'm not making any comment upon her gender. This could have been a man as well. I'm just saying that she didn't cultivate any sense of community (which doesn't need to be a family in the conventional sense). These "managers" only know how to watch people like hawks and tell them off when they've done something wrong. They can't help anybody do something right. They can't help anybody feel better about themselves.
You see this a lot in older male executives as well - especially middle level type managers. Often, they have neglected cultivating close friendships and find themselves alone and cranky, feeling used and discared in their old age. They only order people around and they haven't learned to compromise with others, to give of themselves or to humble themselves and admit that they need company/help or what have you. I think that Hollywood has idealized this grumpy old man type, but I don't think that it is endearing.
Beware, young men and women. Beware. Don't abandon the chance to cultivate real friendships, and importantly real romantic relationships, just to appear sucessful to everybody else. It could bite you in the behind later on.
posted by Laurelle St. Laurent at 10:27 p.m.
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