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>>Sure. We all want to be respected for our professional
skills and the quality of the work we turn out. And it is
appropriate to resist stereotyping. If someone says, "hey,
you're just a tech writer. You should be the one to make the
coffee every morning," you have every reason and right to
resist. But to refuse on principle because you're too
important to take out the trash? Get off it
Once when I was on a temp job as an admin assistant, I had
to empty out my wastebasket as well as the recycle-paper box
under my desk every night before I went home. I thought it
was rather odd, so asked the boss about it. Turns out,
everybody in the company had to do that because they were
cutting corners on janitorial staff.
He did ask me to empty his out for him, though. I figured,
heck... why not? He makes the coffee. We drank a lot of
coffee, so he made it frequently. I had to empty the trash
to the recycle bin only once a day -- on my way out the door
at night.
We formed a great working relationship right then and there
on my first day with that company. He liked to get up to go
to the coffee machine every so often because it gave him a
chance to move around a little without getting caught in a
hallway conversation. And I made it a ritual when I emptied
my trash as a symbolic gesture of releasing my mind from
what I'd been doing all day at work and refocusing on my
private life.
<-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><-><->
Quality is never an accident; it is always the result
of high intentions, sincere effort, intelligent direction
and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice
of many alternatives.
~~ Willa A. Foster
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