If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with!

I have some news to report from Cube Nation (state government). Sam Cook said A Change is gonna Come, and B. Obama said Yes We Can, so from the frontlines of the cube I have to report that yes a change has come and yes we are going to perpetuate this change. The old heads are retiring, the middle heads are jumping up and down with joy that they now have a chance to run things, and they are hiring young heads that are educated and know what the heck is going on and are encouraging innovation. About dang time!

Now I’m not saying that this change has been and will continue to be easy. Oh heck naw! The old heads are kicking and screaming and tearing down the walls on the way out, which is kinda cool because we were going to put a flat screen tv on those walls anyway, and we need a place for the ping pong table.

But I’ve been seeing the change, I’m experiencing the change in the re-org and I’m starting to see how things may play out, better for everyone, regardless of all the bitching from the old heads who are way to comfy in their career ruts. Sounds like a reflection of the current white house administration…

Please believe I’m not championing for the cube. I’m not giving up my goals of being my own boss and living happily ever after outside of the cube. Never that, but as I get myself together and ride out this crappy economy, this change is a happy blip on an otherwise hazy cube radar.

Biggups to changes in the cube nation!

A Cube with a View

After all of my organization’s reorg and people shuffling, I’ve been moved to a new (to me) cube with an executive style cube desk and a window view. I’ve been getting snide comments by people passing by my snazzy cube; they’ve said things like “moving on up” and “big time now”. To me, I’m still in a cube. Yes I have a bigger desk, and yes I now have a window that over looks the MARTA train tracks and pieces of downtown Atlanta, the view from floor 28 is indeed lovely. But I reiterate, to me I’m still in a cube. If you put a dress on a duck, does it become a flamingo? Will it go any farther in its life pretending to be as pretty as a flamingo, or will the dress hinder its flight and turn it into an interesting, yet grounded penguin? I know realistically this cube is just where I happen to land in the reorg, and that this is not any indication of how valuable they think I am. I’ve lived in the land of cubes for too long to be lulled into any sense of security. But a little piece of me wants to believe that things happen for a reason, and this itty bitty piece wants to bask in my double wide cube and gaze lazily out the window. I’ll give this little part of me its window view, its scenic reverie. But that’s all she’s getting, because the crusader has work to do and can’t get too comfortable….

My Ignorance

Yesterday I had a conversation with an ignorant person, not ignorant like skin head want to assassinate a presidential nominee and kill 88 and 13 black people to prove a point ignorant, but more in lacking knowledge of a particular subject kind of ignorant. The guy I had the conversation with was explaining how since he had never known about the world outside of his city or state, and that many of his friends didn’t know much about it either, he was unsure of what was out there for him. His ignorance on this matter lead him to get out of where he was and explore. Many of his friends weren’t driven in the same way though, they decided to stay put for fear of the unknown. Since he left his city of origin, he landed someplace that he really likes and is totally in love with what he’s found and how different it is from what he has known. However, in his description of where he was from I could still hear the limitation and ignorance of what else his old city had to offer, and of course since I’m an outsider looking in, with no emotional ties to his birth city, I can see a whole lot more positive things.

This conversation lead me to think about my own ignorance and what I do to combat it. I’m ignorant to the different kinds of work environments and jobs out there in the world (yes this is the tie in to the cube). I’ve worked for the state, a couple of states, since 2001, this is all I know about work environments, office politics, and the machine. My perception is definitely skewed. However, when I search for other jobs or a way out, I have no idea where to look because I don’t really know what else is out there. I know in theory what’s out there, but nothing concrete. If I wanted to find another state job, well I know the ins and out of that kind of search, as well as having the networking ability to get to someone on the inside. My knowledge outside of the state cube is extremely limited (my knowledge of retail is high too, but I’m not trying to go there either).

So to combat this I try to listen to the experiences of people outside of the cube. Real life experiences of people who are really living it. However, my supply of such people is limited. Can anyone out there share their story of life outside of the miserable cube? A cool job you have or had? A different perspective than the cube? Help me end my ignorance.