Tuesday 16 June 2009

Realizations

The past couple of weeks have held quite a few startling revelations for me.

Realization One:
As a copywriter, it seems my duties include adjudicating matters of literary dispute. The case in point was an accurate definition of a 'workaholic'. One party held that a workaholic is a person who has an option to leave the office, but chooses instead, to work. The other party was of the opinion that a person who works when there is a need to work, no matter what would be worthy of being called a workaholic.

Now, I take my literary responsibilities very seriously, as any of you who have spoken with me for more than three minutes and/or been corrected more than twice in three sentences will know. This mission was taken on with similar gusto. After a few moments spent deep in thought and carefully weighing the options before me, I realized I agreed with both parties in part. How to proceed now?

Simple. I put together the parts that I liked from each. Ergo, this becomes my definition of a workaholic:

A person who
a) has an option to leave the office, but
b) perceives a need to work, and therefore
c) chooses to stay back

As I was conveying my definition to the two original parties, I realized it was a perfect description of me. Memories of my manager saying, “There’s no designer, let it be. We’ll finish it tomorrow,” and me replying with, “No. This is important. I will do it myself. You leave.” flashed across my brain. The first party saw fit to verbalize the same.

Realization Two:
I am the needless martyr. If the above example wasn’t enough to show how I crucify myself, here’s another little anecdote.

I usually send rough copy to my designer (I’ve mentioned K and his music collection before) to put in a layout, then I refine it at his desk. I did the same thing recently, and when he was done with his layout, I made him move over and edited to my heart’s content, after which he came back to add his final touches. When we were done, it had to be sent out to a couple of people for approval.

K’s typing out the mail. He turns to speak to someone for a second, and I reached over to move his hand from the mouse to attach the file myself. He turns to me with an incredulous stare. This is when I realize what I’m doing.

It seems I love taking on other people’s work and getting screwed for not doing my own. Woo the hoo!

Realization Three:
The past week has been good. I’ve woken up these past two mornings with dreams that would have become posts under ‘Thoughts A-stupor’.  I don’t remember them well enough anymore for them to become posts now, but that’s not the point.

I’m dreaming again. = )

10 member protest rally:

Anonymous said...

So you're a workaholic and a BAKRA?!

jhayu said...

@ Qi who used to be Ki.
How does this make me a bakra? WTF?

Keetarp Aidonak said...

You've turned american in your spellings.

Anonymous said...

Bakra 'cos you're doing other people's work?!!!

Preeti said...

I liked this post. You know i am itching to define the term workaholic - so with/without your permission i shall go ahead and do the same -

"a workaholic - akin to an alcoholic or a chocoholic- is a person who is so addicted to work that s/he cannot survive if they are not working. when away from work they exhibit withdrawal symptoms. when seriously ill they can still be found working their energies away. THEY JUST CAN'T RESIST WORKING"...

i could go on you know (you havent yet defined the average preeti comment length)

how does realization two make you a martyr????

i love obscurenesses and realization three epitomizes that. i wish you could be more obscure though!!!

Sparkling said...

I totally agree with the 2nd party's definition, not that you asked for it, but I'd still like to put forth my point :)

And what you're doing does not reflect a workaholic's behaviour but plain meddling into people's affair :p

Aila! Am I thrown out of your zone now? :)

Mudra said...

Seriously?! That's INSANE. Not borderline crazy, not weird, not eccentric - INSANE. Don't do that. People at your workplace will think you're a freak (the ones who don't already).

Quirky Indian said...

"It seems I love taking on other people’s work and getting screwed for not doing my own."

You're not a 'needless martyr'. You're a cross between a workaholic and a masochist...

Cheers,

Quirky Indian

shesturningblue said...

Ah well. That would perhaps sum up a workaholic. You're good:) And, the martyr thing...ah tell me about getting sucked into it.

jhayu said...

@ Canoe.
Yeah, I have. Had an argument with a guy in the office about that, too.

@ Qi.
That would apply only if they made me do their work and I did it. No, in this case, I'm doing stuff that they don't want me to do...

@ The Maiden.
Yeah, the thing is, I love work. I love it when my brain is working on something. Need it badly. So yeah, i might fall under your definition, too. On the other hand, I DO love doing nothing. =p
And yeah, I guess we can use this as a benchmark for the 'Average Preeti Comment' length.

@ Still.
Nah, the Zone's pretty much a free-for-all.

@ Muduu.
There is NO ONE at work who doesn't already think that.

@ Quirky Indian.
Whoa, welcome! What brings you here?
And yeah, masochism. There's the word I was looking for.

@ Fishy.
You too, eh?

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