These damn supervisors at work will NOT stop nagging me about joining the dark side. I’m referring to becoming a supervisor, a job that I actually considered when I first switched to night shift. I sincerely felt like becoming a sup at that time in my life would be the best thing ever. Matter of fact, I was close to actually becoming a sup (short for supervisor) until I had this random voice pop in my head saying “Don’t do it.” Ever since then I have been listening to that little voice.
Supervising at UPS doesn’t look like a bad job. Every time I see a sup they’re always jerking off on their phones or conversing with the other supervisors. It looks like an easy job, even they tell me that. But deep down I really don’t want to do it. I’ve been told numerous times that it will look good on a resume, it’s easy, I’d be good at it, and so on. Yeah the promotion sounds nice but is it really for me?
I look at my current job like this. As a part time employee stuffing boxes inside of trucks, I have one foot in the door. Now let’s say I end up changing the crystal in my lightsaber to a red one and go on a power trip as a sup, I now have two feet in the door. With two feet in the door I am now what I like to call “About to get locked behind the fence.” The door behind me may be open but houses usually have rooms, and UPS is big so exploring is a must right? That exploration leads to comfort, something a lot of people in life fall for. You ever wonder why your friend never left their OKay paying job? It’s becasue they are comfortable.
Comfort is something I do not need. I keep trying to explain to these damn people in upper management that taking the road they took is not that enticing to me. I’d rather not fall into that zone of, “Well I’ve worked here this long and I’ve been promoted to the point of where I don’t have to do anything, guess I’ll stay.” That’s what a majority of people say to themselves. They either say that or something similar. The fact is, I don’t want to end up walking to far into UPS. I don’t want to get trapped like all the other people who I have talked to within the hub who tell me about their “career.”
I remember one time when I was on the deice bus headed to the guard shack and this older black dude sparked a quick conversation with me. It all started out with his dogs and his deceased wife and quickled shifted over to how I should stay at UPS and stick with it becasue it “isn’t a job, it’s a career.” You mean to tell me that once I spend 20 years of my life loading boxes and finally become full time that unloading and loading cans into planes is a career? Oh it just doesn’t stop there, full time positions also consist of house keeping. What in the hell do I look like being a janitor inside of UPS? I mean my dad runs a janitorial company, so if I were to do any janitorial work it would be for my father where I know I’ll actually excel.
A life spent at UPS and seeing nothing but boxes isn’t what I intend on doing in life. I was talking to my supervisor last night who was trying to convince me in becoming a supervisor (This had to have been take 400 on me). After I explained my philosophy using the one foot story, he said, “Well you can still work here and do what you want outside of work.” [Insert Confused Black Girl Meme Here] … Yes that is true but the way I see things is along the lines of Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. You ever wonder why those two men wear the same clothing whenever they are presenting new products or holding developer conferences? Those two extraordinary men practice the ideology of conserving brain power so they can use it for decisions made later on in the day. Albert Einstein has done it and even President Obama.
I’ve taken that same philosophy and applied it on a bigger scale. The less time I spend at work, the more time I get to sit here at my desk on my computer blogging, reading, or coming up with ideas. Why would I want to get promoted at a job which will eventually require me to stay a bit longer, and if I get to comfortable, I’ll spend more time there. Of course I could sacrifice sleep, but being more awake and taking on what you love in life is more pleasing than struggling to keep your eyes open.
To bring us to a closing point, I don’t want to get sucked into the “Hey, we’ll pay for your school if you work here at UPS” trap. I guess I’m kind of in it but like I said, I got one foot in right now as a part time employee who stuffs the miscellaneous items you order on Amazon. It’s just annoying that that these sups at work keep badgering me. I guess I’ll keep hitting my full timer with my “bullshit” philosophy and plot ways to push my other endeavors in life forward.
ps. Mcswain, if you’re reading this, I know that you folks only want me becasue I resemble a black male and would be a good fit for that quota. I don’t want to become a supervisor if that’s all its for. I probably have the qualities to be a great sup but I don’t want to sign up for some bullshit ass position. Last time I did that I ended up loading feeders. Y’all will probably do me like the rest of the black people that have been in the thumb and send them straight to the unload. Like fuck that shit. As Ms Sweet Brown would say, “AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT!”
~ Keep it all smiles
