There are days when I remember fondly my time in the military.
For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, "Go," and he goes; and that one, "Come," and he comes. I say to my servant, "Do this," and he does it. Matthew 8, Verse 9There were those above me in the chain of command to whom I owed loyalty and obedience. As I gained in rank and authority, there were an increasing number of those below me in the chain of command who owed me loyalty and obedience.
Conversely, I felt that I always owed them loyalty as well. I would listen to their ideas and suggestions, if they had them, and sometimes they did. But there always came a time when a decision had to be made and actions carried out. The time for seeking ideas was over. It was time to act.
Often it was those above me who made the decision. They would say "Go" and we would. I eventually found though, that the more stripes I gained, the more it was up to me to make the decision and make things happen.
Now I am once again part of the civilian world and have been for fourteen years. There are aspects of it I like and there are aspects of it I don't like. Guess which aspect I want to talk about today?
Yup, the "don't like".
Apparently, in the civilian world, there are certain types of people who will never, ever have an idea or independent thought. But will have lots and lots of input on somebody else's ideas or thoughts.
I know, I know. First world problems.
This is one of those days I just want to unleash my inner Master Sergeant and bellow my frustration at an uncaring world.
Where are my airmen? I need my airmen!
Quintili Vare, legiones redde!*
*Upon hearing of the destruction of three of his legions in the Teuroburger Wald, the Emperor Augustus, according to the Roman historian Suetonius in De vita Caesarum ("On the Life of the Caesars"), was so shaken that he stood butting his head against the walls of his palace, repeatedly shouting:
"Quintili Vare, legiones redde!“ ('Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!')
Not that I ever had legions, but you get my drift. I hope.
Oooooh!
ReplyDeleteI know that frustration.
Have you ever had to deal with a building inspector who was an expert on the building codes?
...but had no idea about what was better than code?
That sounds like the definition of frustration...
DeleteThe ones, who won't/can't make a decision, but, after the decision is made, find many ways the decision could have been better frost my nether regions.
ReplyDeleteMine as well.
DeleteI prefer my self as company. I sometimes win the argument. Only sometimes though.
ReplyDeleteHeh. I get that.
DeleteYou know the main reason I hired on with EDS out of the Air Force? People described the company as a "paramilitary organization." That wasn't a bug... it was a FEATURE. And a good one, too. And then... after 14 years (and an early-retirement buy-out)... I went to work for a start-up out in SFO and found out what "diversity" was all about.
ReplyDeleteMy bad.
That IS a feature.
DeleteUgh, "diversity". (As opposed to actual diversity.)
You know what the best thing about "diversity" was? I found out I was a member of a Protected Group, being a White Male Over 50. It took an act of God to fire me, in other words.
Delete(I have a long story about Protected Groups, the Readers Digest version being I had to fire someone for non-performance and the first words out of HR's mouth were "Is he a member of a protected Group?" They actually had a freaking LIST of people that fell into one group or another. I tried not to look shocked.)
Ah yes, protected groups. Like they were freaking scarce wildlife or something!
DeleteOne of my instructors in AFROTC once told us that the nice thing about the armed services was that, if you didn't like your boss, don't worry, you're guaranteed to get a new one every three years at the outside. LOL
ReplyDeleteAnother selling point Virgil. I'd forgotten that one.
Delete