![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Mark of the Asphodel: Amateur Politician
Dec. 18th, 2009 06:40 pmMan, it was one of those days when you get word that your corporate overlord is considering a move that could be Very Bad News for the long-term (like, 5-10 year scale) survival of your bargaining unit, and right when you're having a tense conversation with your resident co-conspirator about the shifting winds in the halls of power, one of your local "petitioners" shows up wanting to know if you liked the unsolicited list of demands he gave you re: the contract which is due to expire in six months and oh, by the way, you have the thankless job of being the divisional chair. And you really should be getting your dossier together for your meeting with president of the national union on, oh, TUESDAY.
I am so screwed.
Being an amateur politician is a BITCH. One week, you're in a reception line meeting your state's junior Senator, the next you're having your metaphorical balls cut off in public. This going to deteriorate into pure incoherent rubbish, so I'll cut myself short and just say that part of my interest in political!fic (and impatience with facile renditions of the lives of Lord-types or anyone else with power, imagined or otherwise) lies from my mixed-up and frustrating "second job" tending to the wages and working conditions of approximately 250 people.
There are just all these moments, like when you get a jaw-droppingly awful piece of news you can't take back to the "troops," or when they expect you to make them happy by, I don't know, violating federal law wrt: their retirement plans, or that moment when you realize you don't actually trust any of your closest advisors... sheesh. There's also that moment where you face down a crowd of 30+ tetchy people and you realize that, at most, three or four of them begin to understand the scope of the problems the division is facing, or the creativity and compromise that will be necessary to bring about a solution. And that's not their fault-- they can't see the Big Picture. They're rank-and-file. They show up, do their jobs, and expect the paycheck and benefits and a defense when their supervisor decides to be an asshole. It's your job. You're the loser who showed up for your apparent date with Destiny, and woe unto you if (or when) you fail.
I need fandom to burn off all this steam. Otherwise I'd explode like Mt. Saint Helens.
ETA: I forgot the "hear jaw-droppingly awful news, pretend it was not a surprise" moment. Bleah.
I am so screwed.
Being an amateur politician is a BITCH. One week, you're in a reception line meeting your state's junior Senator, the next you're having your metaphorical balls cut off in public. This going to deteriorate into pure incoherent rubbish, so I'll cut myself short and just say that part of my interest in political!fic (and impatience with facile renditions of the lives of Lord-types or anyone else with power, imagined or otherwise) lies from my mixed-up and frustrating "second job" tending to the wages and working conditions of approximately 250 people.
There are just all these moments, like when you get a jaw-droppingly awful piece of news you can't take back to the "troops," or when they expect you to make them happy by, I don't know, violating federal law wrt: their retirement plans, or that moment when you realize you don't actually trust any of your closest advisors... sheesh. There's also that moment where you face down a crowd of 30+ tetchy people and you realize that, at most, three or four of them begin to understand the scope of the problems the division is facing, or the creativity and compromise that will be necessary to bring about a solution. And that's not their fault-- they can't see the Big Picture. They're rank-and-file. They show up, do their jobs, and expect the paycheck and benefits and a defense when their supervisor decides to be an asshole. It's your job. You're the loser who showed up for your apparent date with Destiny, and woe unto you if (or when) you fail.
I need fandom to burn off all this steam. Otherwise I'd explode like Mt. Saint Helens.
ETA: I forgot the "hear jaw-droppingly awful news, pretend it was not a surprise" moment. Bleah.
