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Tomorrow I have 3 hours of mandatory socializing

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MrX8503 said:
You'll get farther in life if you socialize. If you don't like it then pretend. You'll thank me later.
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You're absolutely correct, but people are different and some people just don't enjoy it or find it necessary. I'm the first to admit that I could probably be higher in an organization if I socialized and sucked up, but I make a good living and at least I have some of my dignity intact. I just laugh when the incompetent suck-ups got promoted at companies I've worked for in the past.
 
IndyColtsFan said:
You're absolutely correct, but people are different and some people just don't enjoy it or find it necessary. I'm the first to admit that I could probably be higher in an organization if I socialized and sucked up, but I make a good living and at least I have some of my dignity intact. I just laugh when the incompetent suck-ups got promoted at companies I've worked for in the past.
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I refuse to suck up or ass kiss any person. There's only two kinds of people that do that, snakes and pussies.
 
bfdd said:
I refuse to suck up or ass kiss any person. There's only two kinds of people that do that, snakes and pussies.
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What about the people who are just nice to everyone? I goof off with my boss and I am friendly to her boss. I treat the janitor and support staff like rockstars though 🙂
 
rudeguy, there's a difference between being a good/nice person and being a pussy.

I am a very nice person, but I refuse to be a pussy.
 
bfdd said:
rudeguy, there's a difference between being a good/nice person and being a pussy.

I am a very nice person, but I refuse to be a pussy.
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Hrmm...

I know what you are trying to say and I understand it 100%. I also know that pride can ruin a person. I speak my mind all the time but I make a point to not be "that guy". You will always have a boss...its a fact of life.
 
IndyColtsFan said:
Good point. Something like 2/3 of our company HQ is female, and there is a large population of young and hot women there. Hmmm, maybe I should stay after all. 😀
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what I wouldn't give...working at an Engineering company is not good for the lady selection.
 
bfdd said:
I refuse to suck up or ass kiss any person. There's only two kinds of people that do that, snakes and pussies.
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This is a universal LAW. Suck-ups are over-compensating for something... usually a lack of usefulness and skill.
 
Stuxnet said:
This is a universal LAW. Suck-ups are over-compensating for something... usually a lack of usefulness and skill.
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At one company I worked for, this guy got promoted first to a team leader, than a manager, than a director. He was notorious for being incompetent. Want to guess why he got promoted? If you said "He threw parties and always made sure the VPs were invited," you're right!

Unfortunately for him, it all caught up to him -- when the high-level management changed, he got canned for, among other things, using company resources to run his own side business.

I have a friend who likes to pretend like he isn't a suck up, but he is. Whenever a VP was in town or at our facility, my friend made sure he would chat with him and inevitably, would always find a way to go out for dinner/drinks with the guy.
 
IndyColtsFan said:
At one company I worked for, this guy got promoted first to a team leader, than a manager, than a director. He was notorious for being incompetent. Want to guess why he got promoted? If you said "He threw parties and always made sure the VPs were invited," you're right!

Unfortunately for him, it all caught up to him -- when the high-level management changed, he got canned for, among other things, using company resources to run his own side business.

I have a friend who likes to pretend like he isn't a suck up, but he is. Whenever a VP was in town or at our facility, my friend made sure he would chat with him and inevitably, would always find a way to go out for dinner/drinks with the guy.
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You know, who's truly pathetic are the execs who buy in to all of the sucking up. They think everyone sucks their ass because they're so cool and smart. Sorry haus... take away your authority and these people would claw their way up your back to suck the ass of the guy who has it instead.

The delusion involved in the ass-kissing is a two way street. For it to fly, you need a guy with no dignity selling it and a guy with no awareness buying it.
 
Stuxnet said:
You know, who's truly pathetic are the execs who buy in to all of the sucking up. They think everyone sucks their ass because they're so cool and smart. Sorry haus... take away your authority and these people would claw their way up your back to suck the ass of the guy who has it instead.

The delusion involved in the ass-kissing is a two way street. For it to fly, you need a guy with no dignity selling it and a guy with no awareness buying it.
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Another story involving the same company from my last story. If that guy sounded like a suck up, he was a rank amateur compared to this other guy. We used to have a weekly Friday meeting for the whole facility (roughly 300 people). Typically, different speakers would present different topics or awards would be handed out.

One Friday, the Sr. VP who was in charge of 3 facilities was giving a presentation. This suck up stood up and said "Steve, I just wanted you to know that I think you're doing an awesome job and I want to let you know that I am going to nominate you for an award for your leadership and work." And no, I am NOT making this up. This actually happened and I was there.

You could hear people in the audience groaning and see their eyes rolling. Steve was a pretty smart guy too and you could see the "WTF is this shit?" look on his face. He just gave the employee an uncomfortable glance, thanked him, and moved on.
 
MrX8503 said:
You can be sociable without being a kiss ass.
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You can, but again, why? Quite honestly, of the 500+ people in my building, I don't care about 90% of them. The only ones I care about I talk to anyway, so work events don't help there. The other few percent I care to see are the really good-looking women that work here. 😀
 
We used to have epic Christmas parties in the factories I've worked. Work shut down at lunchtime. They set up tables right on the factory floor in every department. Everybody brought in something. Tons of very good ethnic food.

Now these days, no party, we'll give you a free turkey lunch at break time.
 
Maybe I'm the only one that actually kind of likes socializing with my coworkers, at least the ones in my department. Most of them. Definitely not a suck-up, though.

Perhaps I'm just too young to be fully depressed by corporate America.
 
I'm self employed, my Christmas party will be good because I scooped up 3 cases of 4 Loco the week the ban was announced. It's now been pulled from every store and can no longer be bought.

For some reason a lot of females who didn't give 2 shits about it before the ban are now dying to come over and drank some up. God bless the government for banning the shit, thanks to them the turn out of hot chicks will be much higher than usual this year.
 
When it comes to stuff like this its good to play the game. The reason we work is to make money and if your not maximizing your potential via networking and reputation you are limiting your earning potential.

Once you have an established reputation you can do whatever the hell you want...
 
rudeguy said:
Hrmm...

I know what you are trying to say and I understand it 100%. I also know that pride can ruin a person. I speak my mind all the time but I make a point to not be "that guy". You will always have a boss...its a fact of life.
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Agree, that doesn't mean I'd have to take their shit though.
 
RKS said:
We have ours next Wednesday at our office. The boss has ordered tons of alcohol and is roasting 6 pigs. It's during work hours but we can't 'hide' in our individual offices. It is usually a good networking opportunity since we invite all of the county/city court officials and judges but it's not a good time to drink too much.
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Why would you want to hide from that?

Eat lots of roast pig, drink lots of beer and sleep under you desk.

Sounds awesome.
 
rcpratt said:
Maybe I'm the only one that actually kind of likes socializing with my coworkers, at least the ones in my department. Most of them. Definitely not a suck-up, though.
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Most people make friends at work, although I will say, at my current job, I really haven't made any close friends. At my past two jobs, however, I made lots of good friends that I stay in touch with. Typically, we meet for beers or we all jump on Vent and play a game of something (though gaming is more rare now).

Perhaps I'm just too young to be fully depressed by corporate America.
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Probably.
 
manimal said:
When it comes to stuff like this its good to play the game. The reason we work is to make money and if your not maximizing your potential via networking and reputation you are limiting your earning potential.

Once you have an established reputation you can do whatever the hell you want...
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Great advice, especially when you're new at a company. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a new employee come into a company, act like they're in charge, and then proceed to systematically destroy their careers at the company.

This recently happened to a friend of mine and the bad part was, I gave her a glowing recommendation and was responsible for getting her the job here at my current employer. I had worked with her before and she was a hard worker and a friend. She got here and was extremely negative and complained to her manager constantly about coworkers, procedures, etc. I told her multiple times to be positive, to stop complaining, and to worry about herself. She didn't listen and got fired. Once she was fired, I told her that she couldn't blame anyone but herself. Sure, her coworkers weren't innocent and did plenty of things wrong; however, everything they did was minor and she should've ignored it. At our last company, she was the one always complaining about the departmental tattletale; I told her that she had become the very kind of employee she used to dislike.

In my case, I keep my mouth shut and let my work speak for itself. Once I get several wins under my belt and have built a reputation, I can pretty much do what I please.
 
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IndyColtsFan said:
Another story involving the same company from my last story. If that guy sounded like a suck up, he was a rank amateur compared to this other guy. We used to have a weekly Friday meeting for the whole facility (roughly 300 people). Typically, different speakers would present different topics or awards would be handed out.

One Friday, the Sr. VP who was in charge of 3 facilities was giving a presentation. This suck up stood up and said "Steve, I just wanted you to know that I think you're doing an awesome job and I want to let you know that I am going to nominate you for an award for your leadership and work." And no, I am NOT making this up. This actually happened and I was there.

You could hear people in the audience groaning and see their eyes rolling. Steve was a pretty smart guy too and you could see the "WTF is this shit?" look on his face. He just gave the employee an uncomfortable glance, thanked him, and moved on.
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LOL that's awesome. At my previous company, there was a very serious culture of ass kissing. You pretty much had to do it or you were going nowhere. The President of the company was a marketing guy, and he just soaked it up.

Then he got fired.

His replacement was a genius with undergrads in Math and Mech Eng, and he had a couple graduate degrees as well. I know such credentials don't automatically make you "smart", but this guy was sharp was a tack. The executive staff didn't "transition" too well from the former to the latter Pres, and they didn't pick up too quickly on his disdain for asskissing. He wanted company success, not yes-men. In his first year, about 25% of the executive staff was replaced, and by the second year, the rest of the morons got the message.

I'll never forget the first meeting I was in on with him and a few VPs. When a few of them started rattling off corporate slogans as solutions to real actual problems, he stopped them dead in their tracks:

"I don't need your platitudes and cooked-up answers. I need ACTUAL SOLUTIONS. This meeting is over. We'll come back to this when you guys have something tangible to discuss."

It was epic.
 
Stuxnet said:
"I don't need your platitudes and cooked-up answers. I need ACTUAL SOLUTIONS. This meeting is over. We'll come back to this when you guys have something tangible to discuss."

It was epic.
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Nice :thumbsup:

It's fun to work with people who do actual work. Instead of synergizing your collusion with diversity, help fix things.
 
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