Random Is As Random Does

My mind is all over the place today…random thoughts bouncing off the walls of my cranium.

Such as:
Why do people feel obligated to apologize for absolutely everything?
Two strangers came up to me and asked a question this morning, and they both apologized for it.
Like why?
One lady said “Do you know what time it is – SORRY”, and the other said “SORRY - do you know where the C-Train station is from here?”
What do you suppose they were sorry for? Do you think we become conditioned to apologize for everything under the sun during childhood or as a result of cultural or media influence?

It just seems so odd.

How ironic is it to receive numerous apologies from complete strangers throughout the course of the day for seemingly trivial matters, yet have the hardest time receiving an honest to goodness apology from those close to us for things much more important?
How can we let sorry’s roll off our tongues so freely for things that require no apology in the first place, yet have a difficult (if not impossible) time saying sorry for things we really should be sorry for?
Some wires are crossed there, that’s for sure.

And I was also thinking – how many people go about their daily professional lives without knowing what the eff they are doing?
The thing that got me thinking about that was a post card posted on this week’s Post Secret site.

One person’s post card said “I overdress for meetings so that no one notices I have no idea what is going on. No fucking idea.”

I have been in a position of confusion in meetings at work many times in the course of my working career – especially in the past few years. I am often exposed to things that are brand new and fast tracked, so I’ve often lost sleep worrying that I would fail at work because I didn’t understand what I was doing.
Perhaps it is a universal feeling after all.
I wouldn’t doubt it in the high paced corporate machine a lot of us are part of.

Gone are the days of adequate training and team work nurturing the growth of the individual. Nope. No time for that these days.
Sink or swim – that’s how you learn it seems.

I wonder how many people feel this way? I wonder how many of them are in high level positions that they are probably unqualified for?
Scary to think about.

That reminds me – I have an informal “interview” tomorrow with an engineer I used to work for. He called me up last week (along with 2 other companies head hunting for workers) and pleaded with me to come back and work with him.
I am very hesitant to leave my present employer, because they are like family. I love working there because it just feels like home to me. And we are treated very well – like human beings rather than mere cogs in the machine.
The company I am receiving this proposal from is pretty large in comparison (hint hint Jeff…I could be working in your building again), and I don’t imagine I will receive the same treatment or flexibility as I have here.
But I bet the price is right. We’ll see tomorrow I guess.

Sometimes money isn’t the end all be all though – that’s why I’m a bit hesitant to entertain the thought of switching companies. I make a pretty comfortable living where I am now, so I really have no reason to leave.
I suppose we all have our price though. If the increase is significant, I will definitely think about it.

Anyways…that’s about it for now.
Well, actually, there’s more, but I'll save it for another post. My thoughts just aren’t flowing out of my fingertips the way they normally do today.
Must be a case of the Monday’s…wah, wah, wah.