Aspire For Mediocrity

Is mediocrity the new norm? There are many days (and it feels like they occur with increasing frequency) when it certainly feels that way. I repeatedly hear in the media that America is falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to our students excelling in the math and sciences; the skills of our workforce aren't keeping pace with the skills that are actually needed to be competitive, and for the first time in modern history, the quality of life for my generation is not going to surpass that of my parent's generation. My initial reaction is to protest that this simply isn't true but then I look around and find myself agreeing. I look around and see so many people simply going through the motions of doing their jobs yet not really trying to do them well. Meeting the baseline of expectations and getting the job done seems to be an adequate performance level. Its a sad state of affairs. So when did good enough become, well.......good enough?

Its almost ironic that in a society where so many people are drive their kids to be the best-- the best soccer player on the field, score the highest on their SATs and the one to gain admission to the most prestigious college, mediocrity in adulthood is suddenly acceptable. Is the good enough mentality actually a rebellion against the helicopter parents of one's childhood? But then again I'm not sure this is entirely a generational trend since mediocre behavior seems to transcend generations in the workplace. I often hear people brag about longevity in a position but rarely do they boast of doing their job well. (And as I know all too well, just because you have been a chair warmer in an office for decades doesn't mean you do your job well). Take customer service for example. Call me naive but my understanding of a customer service position is that the person serving in that role is supposed to actually help customers. If you don't like people, find another job. If you are in the position actually offer assistance or at a minimum answer any questions the said customer may have. Don't act put out when approached by a potential customer or irritated because they are causing you to have to work. Its your job, so do it. (Somehow it is these same people who provide horrible customer service who in turn get bent out of shape when they themselves are on the receiving end of poor quality service). But what about people who simply come to work and do what is required of them? I suppose this is better than not doing one's job but is it deserving of special recognition or a promotion? Many people seem to think so. When I was a supervisor I regularly heard from my employees who thought they were deserving of recognition awards for simply doing their job. Or on their annual evaluations they would state that they regularly came to work on time and were therefore exceptional employees. Really? I mean, when did meeting one's baseline requirements become exceptional behavior? But it is not just individuals that act this way. When companies, institutions, and even governments condone and reward this ho-hum behavior, they are only perpetuating the cycle of mediocrity.

So here's to being a mediocre society. We can either accept it or are we can to do something about it. The choice is ours.........

Closed For Business

Today is the first of October.  For some it is just the beginning of another month but for those of us who work for the Federal government, it marks the beginning of a new fiscal year.  A new year should signify a fresh start; a new beginning.  However, this year, due to the inability of our Congress to approve a new Federal budget, the government of the United States of America is officially closed.  Yes, that is right folks, the self-proclaimed leading country of the free world, the one so many others strive to emulate, the one who is supposed to be a role model for functioning democracies around the globe, is shuttered for business because our elected officials could not pass a budget. Or as a headline in the Washington Post read this morning:  "Capitol of Free World:  Closed until further notice."  Happy new year folks!

 

So what does it mean when a first world government shuts down due to a lack of funds?  For some of the most public employees and their customers, it will be business as usual.  Mail will continue to be delivered, borders and airspace will still be patrolled by employees who will get paid at a later date, most portions of overseas Embassies will remain open, and yes Congress will continue to "work" and get paid.  For others, it means work simply stops until a new budget is passed.  Federal employees, many with families to care for, will go without paychecks until this battle of the wills is resolved.  It isn't clear as to whether or not these employees will eventually receive their missed pay or will simply have to re-prioritize their budgets to accommodate the lost funds.  (Actually, this is what the government should be doing, isn't it?).  Because of some fast dealing and the stroke of the president's pen shortly before midnight, members of the armed forces will continue to receive their paychecks in a timely manner.  As a non-military government employee I went to bed last night believing that I too would be furloughed.  It was only after coming into work at the Embassy this morning that I learned that I, along with the rest of my Department of State colleagues at the Embassy, would be exempted from the furloughs (for the time being at least).  That's not a big sigh of relief but rather a small one.

 

What I wonder through all of this, however, is how did we as a country end up where we are today?  The Federal government shut down two times in recent history, in late 1995 and again in early 1996.  As was the case both then and now, each party blamed the other for Congress's inaction and inability to pass compromise legislation.  Politics, in a democratic society, is after all, a lesson in compromise where, despite protests otherwise, the United States has and continues to fail miserably.  And the budget debate is by no means a new one.  In other years the legislative stalemate has resulted in numerous continuing resolutions essentially meaning that the same budget will carry over from one year into the next with no changes being made.  Perhaps these continuing resolutions are a form of non-committal compromise but however you define them, they have become an all too common way of doing business.  In fact, as of just yesterday, the U.S. government was in the final hours of yet another continuing resolution.  Will this coming year result in more of the same or will one party hold out until the other changes their minds, or will both parties agree to mutually acceptable compromises? However it plays out, to quote a friend, it is time that our elected government stop acting like three-year-olds on the playground and find a middle ground.  Your country and your constituents are counting on you.

I have no idea how long this stalemate will continue.  It could be hours, days or perhaps even weeks.  I wonder what it will take for Congress to agree on a budget when the only thing they can agree on is that it is the other party's fault. The bigger question I have, however, is why aren't Americans more angry about all of this and why aren't we calling our representatives to voice our frustrations.  Yes, some people are angry but it appears to mostly be those people whose paychecks are directly effected by the shutdown.  And as history has shown, the American public doesn't have a lot of sympathy for government workers since to many, a government shutdown is viewed as a "Washington" problem.  

There are lots of suggestions floating around in cyberspace about what might motivate Congress to actually perform their jobs.  The most prominent one, the current chorus of voting them out, sounds good but repeatedly, as elections approach frustrations and dissatisfaction with previous job performance are all but forgotten.  (It becomes especially easy to forget when the incumbents bills themselves as the good guys and gals with the other party always being blamed).   And besides, this isn't an election year and the budget issue must be resolved sooner rather than later so at this point, elections are the farthest thing from many of our minds.  I firmly believe that Congress will only act in a meaningful way when they hear the message that the people who elect them want compromise, change, a resolution.  They want Congress to act like adults rather than toddlers. This is what I want too so I'm going to do my part and let my representatives know exactly how I feel.  I encourage all of you to do the same.  Email, Tweet, call, or post a Facebook message .  Just do it.

My Job, Your Job, Our Job

Whose job is it any way?  This is a question I often ask myself when faced with a task I'd rather not undertake.  Sometimes I ask myself this same question when I am doing something that I actually don't mind doing under ordinary circumstances.  I will often wonder whether someone else will step forward if I bow out or what will happen if I just don't do it. In most cases the answer to the first question is a resounding "not likely" and "probably nothing" to the second.  But still I wonder............

Like many American families both Glenn and I work outside of the home.  This means we both get up each morning to head to our respective jobs.  We are fortunate that we have a full time nanny who watches Sidney during the day and as such, this eliminates the need for us to get him up, dressed and out of the house in a timely fashion each morning. (I'm dreading the day when this task gets added to our already harried morning routine).  Glenn works a full day while most days I spend six hours in the office before heading home.  Technically my work day is over at two but in reality that means that my paid work day is over at that time.  Usually I still have hours of unpaid work ahead of me.  Some days this entails grocery shopping and running errands (never an easy feat here in Albania) while other days it means planning and preparing for one of our many representational events that we host in our home.  The nanny leaves when I return home so spending time with Sidney is always a part of the mix.  On rare lucky days this means playing, reading, and just hanging out; more often than not it entails his "helping" me with whatever task I am trying to complete.  With a few exceptions, cooking a sit down dinner each evening is always on the agenda.  Even if we have an event to attend I still make sure there is dinner on the table for Sidney.  I enjoy cooking so most nights I don't mind being in the kitchen experimenting and creating but there are some nights when I just don't want to do it.  But if Mamma doesn't cook, the family doesn't eat.  Or do they?

Is cooking really my job?  Is it Glenn's job? Is it the responsibility of both of us?  Deep down I feel as though it is all mine.  Right or wrong, because I only work part time I feel as though taking care of this aspect of the house is my responsibility. The same goes with meal planning, shopping, and making sure everything we need is "in stock" in the house.  (Perhaps I would feel differently if I was working, and getting paid for it, on a full time basis).  I justify this by thinking that because Glenn is working more hours doing more critical work than I am, I need to step up and take over the responsibilities in the house.  But where do my responsibilities end?  If I end up working until five then who is responsible for putting dinner on the table? If I don't feel like cooking are we relegated to cold cereal or leftovers for dinner?  Am I ever off the clock?  Or for that matter, is any parent ever off the clock regardless of the number of paid or unpaid hours they work each day?  I used to think that once Sidney was out of the infant phase of not sleeping through the night the wee morning hours would be responsibility free.  As fate would have it we've transitioned back into the not sleeping all night phase so at the moment even these hours have been stolen from me.

I found myself thinking about the division of labor this weekend as I prepared a sit down meal for nine for the working lunch Glenn hosted this afternoon.  Glenn had rearranged the furniture and set the table according to my specifications.  As I spent all day Sunday chopping carrots, baking mini cheesecakes, mentally compiling to-do lists and contemplating which dishes to serve from, I thought about how this meal wasn't for my family; rather it was a part of Glenn's responsibilities for work.  And then I left work early today to make the final preparations and serve this lunch before returning to the office to complete my paid work day. Is this a part of my job responsibilities as well?  Maybe, maybe not but I am the one doing the cooking because my churning out the food in turn supports Glenn's job. And supporting Glenn and his job is a part of my job just as he supports me and my work.  It isn't always easy but for better or worse, it is all a part of what makes our household work. 

I know that I will continue to take the lead in making dinner each evening.  After all, for me cooking good food is a way of showing my love, but sometimes I wonder how far that love extends.  Does it extend to Glenn's business colleagues or do I cook for them because I love Glenn? It is definitely the later. Over the past several months we have gotten into a routine where Glenn cleans up if I do the cooking but many nights as he is washing those dishes I feel twinges of guilt.  After all, he worked all day; but then again I did too.  Perhaps I need to get over these feelings of guilt and enjoy the division of labor we share in Household Brown.  In reality I suspect we have a pretty equitable division of labor.  Thanks to both of our efforts everything that needs to get done does.  Can you say the same for your household?

As an added bonus, because of our leftovers from earlier today I'm off the hook for making dinner tonight.  And I might even get Glenn to do both the reheating and cleaning up!



In honor of Glenn, who more often than not, washes the dishes each evening



On Work

The NaBloPoMo theme for the month of December is work.  On the surface this seems like a simple enough concept but the more I think about it, the more I realize it is actually a very complex word.  There are so many definitions and understandings about what work is and isn't.  Paid or unpaid, physical labor or mental workouts, alone or in a group, in public or the privacy of one's own home; these are just a few of the many types of work.  The meaning of work varies amongst cultures, countries, and for some, individual households.  Work's value--in monetary, social, and political terms- is just as varied as well.  It just might be one of those concepts that we may all need to agree to disagree on. 

For many, saying they are "going to work" means they are leaving their house and commuting to their office or other paid work place.  I find myself using this phrase on a regular basis to explain to Sidney why his father isn't always home when he wakes up in the morning.  "Daddy eshte ne pune" has become a daily refrain for explaining Glenn's absence.  And Sidney has learned that it means Glenn is not at home.   In doing so, however, I feel as though I am playing right into the stereotype that one must be leaving the house and getting paid in order for them to be working.  I want to make sure Sidney understands that work takes place at home as well; whether I am cooking dinner or calculating our monthly expenses on the computer, I too am working.

Regardless of one's familial or paid employment status, I think work begins and ends at home.  Whether it is making coffee and getting breakfast on the table, watching your children, walking your dog, or washing the dishes, all of these tasks must be recognized as the work that they are.  These tasks are more likely than not unpaid--unless you hire someone to do these chores for you--- but that doesn't make them any less important or significant.  (Every once in a while statistics pop up laying out what the cost of unpaid work is really worth.  One can argue about the reliability of the figures but their overall message is clear).  In fact, I would argue that it is this unappreciated and unpaid work that makes the world go round.  Regardless of nationality or socio-economic level the work that takes place inside of one's house is what makes it possible to leave the house and go onto paid work in the first place.  Even after paid employment ends, whether by choice or by circumstance, work inside of the house continues until our last dying breath.

My own concept of work has evolved over time.  Prior to getting married and having a child I viewed legitimate work as paid employment and work inside of the house as a necessary evil.  I volunteered at a local women's shelter and donated my time on several non-profit boards but I didn't think about my efforts on these projects as having a dollar figure attached with it.  In my arrogant, just out of college view, I didn't understand how someone could chose to stay home and "not work" all day.  We're they bored?  Oh how naive I was.

My first long stretch of unemployment was the five months between the time I moved to Norfolk and the time I found a less than exciting, underpaid job.  My first few weeks of not working felt like a vacation.  After all I was busy settling into a new house and learning my way around a new city.  Soon my days were filled with the mundane tasks of cleaning, shopping, and turning what had once been a bachelor's house into a family home.  I did this while applying for numerous jobs and going on too many interviews to count.  The first fight Glenn and I ever had was over my "work" status.  After a long day he had cavalierly made a comment about how it must be nice to not be working.  Mind you this was after a day where I had gone on a horrible job interview (for the job I actually got), grocery shopped, made dinner, and reupholstered several dining room chairs.  Whoa!  I may not have gone into a office for the day but I had certainly been busy.  Maybe I didn't earn any actual money that day but I hadn't been sitting around twiddling my thumbs.  It took being confronted with it head on for me to realize that a lot of work is unpaid (or underpaid which might be even worse).  In the months following Sidney's birth, in my sleep deprived haze, I realized that going to a job outside of the house might actually be a better deal.  It is much easier to get up and leave the woes of your job in the office.  When your work is caring for your family who lives under the same roof as you do, it is virtually impossible to escape that work.  (During this period I considered going to the store alone to do our weekly grocery shopping as my down time).  In reality, there aren't any off hours, lunch breaks, or vacation days.  When you are caring for children, you are always on the clock.

Fast forward several years and I'm not working part time for the Embassy, volunteering with a non-profit, raising our son, and serving as a "volunteer" for Glenn's office.  My days fly by and in reality I only get paid for a small portion of the hours I put in each day.  After earning a paycheck each morning I spend most afternoons planning, shopping, and cooking for the various dinners and receptions we host each month.  And since everything in Albania is more difficult and time consuming than it would be in the U.S. these simple tasks take a lot of time and effort.  I may not receive a physical paycheck for each canape or cookie I serve but that doesn't make my efforts any less valuable.

The moral of this is that all work needs to be valued.  Whether paid or unpaid, in the home or outside of it, all work is important and helps make our worlds function.  Our workplaces function because employees come in every day to do their jobs.  Charities, churches, and NGOs are able to provide help to those who need it because volunteers give their time --i.e. work-- to make the services happen.  Children are cared for everyday, pets are walked, and households maintained because people are working.  Just imagine what would happen if I decided to go on strike at home?  If I stopped grocery shopping, menu planning, and cooking dinners, I know there would be at least two very unhappy males in the Brown household.