The Evils of a Corporate World
November 22nd 2006 22:51
I don't know whether any ov U guys & gals out there have noticed, but doesn't it seem th@ corporate culture is attempting a hostile take over ov the human condition? I say this not just in business terms but also psychologically coz I recently took a job with a retail firm th@ proved 2 me just how shallow and sterile coporate life really is.
As a student, and more specifically a film student, money is always going 2 B a problem. Hence I applied 4 this job with a marketing firm operating out ov Parramatta because it promised good money. Upon my arrival, I woz given tonnes ov forms 2 fill in before being shown to this board room and assigned a "team-leader" to follow around 4 the day. He woz dressed in a sterile, pin striped suit & constantly kept grinning a large, innane shark smile th@ desperately struggled 2 conceal his ignorance. Herein lay my first problem: the so called "team-leader" woz only a kid ov 17 who had no idea about anything utha than his job. My guess woz th@ he woz sum high skool drop out who joined this company purely so th@ he could make sum easy money. At this point however, I thought it best 2 keep my eyes open and my mouth shut so I didn't comment.
Wen we arrived @ our destination anutha travesty ov this business occured 2 me. It seemed th@ we were in the business ov bothering people @ work 2 try & sell them trash th@ most ov them would neva eva need! I soon started 2 realize th@ I had made a big mistake in applying 4 this position. My fears were l8r confirmed wen he took me 2 a special needs employment centre & forced me 2 try & sell 2 the people therein. I am flexible as 2 wot lengths I will & won't go 2 4 a job, but I do have morals, there are lines I will not cross & exploiting the mentally handicapped is most definately 1 ov them.
The nxt major problem woz th@ wen we went 4 lunch, the little bastard started brow beating me 4 'not asking enuff questions'. So fukking wot!?! This job woz Xtremely abstract & I didn't really think there woz any need 2 ask any questions Bcoz I already knew th@ I found this job 2 unpleasant 2 eva want 2 B employed with his company. Y then should I ask him any questions about a job I couldn't stand? The worst instance came wen we were sat on the platform 2 get the train bak 2 Parramatta. During this time, he enquired about my university course &, more specifically, th@ I woz a film maker. In an unbridalled display ov audacity, he insinuated th@ I change my major from film making 2 business, eventhough I clearly stated th@ I had my lowest A Level grade in Business. Needless 2 say I told him it woz completely out ov the question. Film making brings me sumthing th@ their pathetic little job could neva provide me with: joy & fulfillment. Life without these things is meaningless, hence I couldn neva surrender my film making. Wot's the point ov making lots ov money if U can't use it 2 make U happy?
Wen we got bak 2 Parramatta, all he wanted 2 do woz sell more products rather than get bak 2 the HQ. Y? He knew th@ I had sweart rash @ this point th@ woz making life extremely unpleasant 4 me but he didn't seem 2 care. Even then he continued 2 berrate me 4 questions until I Xploded in his face with "Let me ask U a question: Wot in Ur tiny mind, makes U think th@ I'd actually want this job!?!" He shut up afta th@ & I neva got the job.
Seriously though, corporations behave like cults. They don't just recruit people. They indoctrinate them as well. Sapping any real lust 4 life and replacing th@ need with a craving 4 money & success. All these sterile, sub-humans seem 2 care about is how much money they seem 2 make, how much Xpensive shit they can by & how far up the company hierachy they can advance. Does th@ lifestyle make anybody happy really? This woz the sort ov shit th@ is mentioned in American Psycho as Bing among the main reason's 4 Patrick Bateman's psychosis, & yet every1 seems 2 think there's nuthing wrong with it. Did I miss sumthing?
& they know nuthing ov culture eitha. U try talking about art 2 them & they look @ U as if Ur speaking anutha language. On the way bak 2 the company HQ I passed a busker & made a brief donation stating th@ "Us artists have 2 look out 4 1 anutha, coz no1 else will". The company membas looked @ me with bewilderment, but they don't undastand. I knew they wouldn't undastand.
Art as a cultural element is slowly dying out. It's a well established fact. The truth is th@ in an increasingly right-wing world, art serves no functional purpose & is therefore Cn as unnecessary. This is the biggest shame ov all Bcoz, & I know this is a stupid romantic ideal, art is the 1 truly pure thing left in this shallow, harsh, corrupt world. It can't B corrupted (it's 2 abstract) so people try 2 wipe it out, but I won't let th@ happen. As I sed earlier, film making is wot brings me joy above all things & if I couldn't do wot I luv then there would B no reason 4 me 2 live. I'm sure th@ most utha artists would agree & I can say, without any shadow ov a doubt, th@ art is the only way we can prevent the castration ov the human condidtion. 4 man is not sum herd animal th@ lives a short, sterile existance B4 1ce agen retruning 2 mutha earth. We have emotions and relationships & it is these things th@ define wot life is, not munny & power. I am enternally grateul 4 Bing allowed 2 choose this path in life & feel a great deal ov pity 4 those who live these hollow corporate lives because they don't realise how much ov themselves they have lost in the process.
As a student, and more specifically a film student, money is always going 2 B a problem. Hence I applied 4 this job with a marketing firm operating out ov Parramatta because it promised good money. Upon my arrival, I woz given tonnes ov forms 2 fill in before being shown to this board room and assigned a "team-leader" to follow around 4 the day. He woz dressed in a sterile, pin striped suit & constantly kept grinning a large, innane shark smile th@ desperately struggled 2 conceal his ignorance. Herein lay my first problem: the so called "team-leader" woz only a kid ov 17 who had no idea about anything utha than his job. My guess woz th@ he woz sum high skool drop out who joined this company purely so th@ he could make sum easy money. At this point however, I thought it best 2 keep my eyes open and my mouth shut so I didn't comment.
Wen we arrived @ our destination anutha travesty ov this business occured 2 me. It seemed th@ we were in the business ov bothering people @ work 2 try & sell them trash th@ most ov them would neva eva need! I soon started 2 realize th@ I had made a big mistake in applying 4 this position. My fears were l8r confirmed wen he took me 2 a special needs employment centre & forced me 2 try & sell 2 the people therein. I am flexible as 2 wot lengths I will & won't go 2 4 a job, but I do have morals, there are lines I will not cross & exploiting the mentally handicapped is most definately 1 ov them.
The nxt major problem woz th@ wen we went 4 lunch, the little bastard started brow beating me 4 'not asking enuff questions'. So fukking wot!?! This job woz Xtremely abstract & I didn't really think there woz any need 2 ask any questions Bcoz I already knew th@ I found this job 2 unpleasant 2 eva want 2 B employed with his company. Y then should I ask him any questions about a job I couldn't stand? The worst instance came wen we were sat on the platform 2 get the train bak 2 Parramatta. During this time, he enquired about my university course &, more specifically, th@ I woz a film maker. In an unbridalled display ov audacity, he insinuated th@ I change my major from film making 2 business, eventhough I clearly stated th@ I had my lowest A Level grade in Business. Needless 2 say I told him it woz completely out ov the question. Film making brings me sumthing th@ their pathetic little job could neva provide me with: joy & fulfillment. Life without these things is meaningless, hence I couldn neva surrender my film making. Wot's the point ov making lots ov money if U can't use it 2 make U happy?
Wen we got bak 2 Parramatta, all he wanted 2 do woz sell more products rather than get bak 2 the HQ. Y? He knew th@ I had sweart rash @ this point th@ woz making life extremely unpleasant 4 me but he didn't seem 2 care. Even then he continued 2 berrate me 4 questions until I Xploded in his face with "Let me ask U a question: Wot in Ur tiny mind, makes U think th@ I'd actually want this job!?!" He shut up afta th@ & I neva got the job.
Seriously though, corporations behave like cults. They don't just recruit people. They indoctrinate them as well. Sapping any real lust 4 life and replacing th@ need with a craving 4 money & success. All these sterile, sub-humans seem 2 care about is how much money they seem 2 make, how much Xpensive shit they can by & how far up the company hierachy they can advance. Does th@ lifestyle make anybody happy really? This woz the sort ov shit th@ is mentioned in American Psycho as Bing among the main reason's 4 Patrick Bateman's psychosis, & yet every1 seems 2 think there's nuthing wrong with it. Did I miss sumthing?
& they know nuthing ov culture eitha. U try talking about art 2 them & they look @ U as if Ur speaking anutha language. On the way bak 2 the company HQ I passed a busker & made a brief donation stating th@ "Us artists have 2 look out 4 1 anutha, coz no1 else will". The company membas looked @ me with bewilderment, but they don't undastand. I knew they wouldn't undastand.
Art as a cultural element is slowly dying out. It's a well established fact. The truth is th@ in an increasingly right-wing world, art serves no functional purpose & is therefore Cn as unnecessary. This is the biggest shame ov all Bcoz, & I know this is a stupid romantic ideal, art is the 1 truly pure thing left in this shallow, harsh, corrupt world. It can't B corrupted (it's 2 abstract) so people try 2 wipe it out, but I won't let th@ happen. As I sed earlier, film making is wot brings me joy above all things & if I couldn't do wot I luv then there would B no reason 4 me 2 live. I'm sure th@ most utha artists would agree & I can say, without any shadow ov a doubt, th@ art is the only way we can prevent the castration ov the human condidtion. 4 man is not sum herd animal th@ lives a short, sterile existance B4 1ce agen retruning 2 mutha earth. We have emotions and relationships & it is these things th@ define wot life is, not munny & power. I am enternally grateul 4 Bing allowed 2 choose this path in life & feel a great deal ov pity 4 those who live these hollow corporate lives because they don't realise how much ov themselves they have lost in the process.
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Comment by Chantal
I read your fat chix article too.. you have some great insights! I may be showing my age here but I find it really hard to follow the sms-style shorthand... it throws me a bit! That would my only complaint