Before I went to first grade, my mother sat me down and said:
Mihaela, everyone has a job in this world. As your mother, my job is to provide food and shelter for you and your brother, to take care of you when you’re sick, to give you advice and guide you when you need it. Your brother’s job is to play the piano twelve hours a day until all our neighbors go crazy, because that’s his gift. Your job is going to be to go to school and learn. You’ll have to listen to what your teacher tells you because she’s your boss. You’ll have to learn to write neatly so that people can understand your words. You’ll have to read your books because that’s where most of your knowledge will come from for a while. And most of all, you’ll have to be responsible and do your homework EVERY day without whining and complaining when things get hard.
When the teacher tells you to do something, you do it right away. You don’t let that woman wonder whether you did it or not. You don’t come up with excuses for why you can’t do it, no matter how difficult it seems. When you’re confused or unsure, you ask yourself questions. What do the words mean? What do the sentences mean when you put the words together? What is the context? Do you have to find something, or just solve a problem, and how do you know that? Is there something you already know that you can use? Is there information missing that you need to find? And if yes, where do you find it? If you got a problem having to do with cockroaches, will you find information about cockroaches in a book about the Great Wall of China, or in a book about bugs? And where do you find those books? Is there a place you can go to borrow some? Does someone have a book they can let you use? THINK, Mihaela, THINK!
Also, she said, DON’T BE LAZY! No one likes laziness, and if you have any, you need to get rid of it NOW. Think about how you use your time, time is precious. Don’t waste it because you don’t know how many days you got on this earth. Make yourself useful whenever you can. If there’s nothing to do, read a book. Or copy your notes until you know them by heart. Be considerate with your classmates, and help them if they need it. Try to help them even if they don’t want it, they might still appreciate it later. Be respectful with anyone who’s older than you, they’ve lived longer. Be kind to someone younger than you, they still have learning to do. Be nice to everyone because you never know who you’re talking to, and usually things are not what they seem. Don’t talk about people behind their backs, that’s just ugly and it will come back on you. And most importantly, don’t wait for anyone to tell you what a great job you’re doing. You don’t need that because you already know it. And how do you know it? Because if you listen to me, you’ll do an awesome job and that’ll feel better than any words anyone can tell you about it.
Is it really that difficult to apply these words when we also get paid for what we do?
Can we just do our jobs, and not have to be told three times to complete this task or that?
Can we pay attention when someone says “Here’s how this is done” so they don’t have to say it to us over and over and over, until they reach the conclusion that maybe we’re complete morons and we’re never gonna learn?
Can we be somewhere on time, especially when other people’s time is also at stake?
Can we use our resources and try to figure something out first, just make an effort, before we decide we need direction?
Can we stay out of people’s personal lives at work, and not pester them with questions for gossip material, especially when they give strong indications they are not interested in that kind of office pastime?
Can we take responsibility and admit we messed something up because we didn’t know any better?
Can we find something to do when nothing is happening and we’re bored out of our minds, but without necessarily making it known to everyone that we’re shopping online?
Can we actually admit that we DON’T KNOW everything, and that WE’RE NOT entitled to preferential treatment at work because we’re prettier than everyone else?
Can we, please, can we?