Saturday, August 4, 2007

Be Yourself

I’m all for people being who and what they are. Here in America, we are relentlessly taught that we are ‘a nation of immigrants.” Of course, status seems to accrue to people whose ancestors have been here the longest (except to those we call “Native Americans”). So regardless of where in the world your ancestors came from, you are who you are. Personally, I am the child of a mother of Lebanese ancestry and a father who was half Polish and half Serbian. It’s a combination that could only happen in western Pennsylvania. Obviously, this line of thinking applies to religion, sexual orientation, political convictions, whatever. Be who and what you are. Accept it, then embrace it. Whoever, and whatever you are, chances are it’s pretty good. Run with it.

I respect smart people who know they’re smart, and to be a bit unkind, dumb people who realize they’re dumb. I can’t stand dumb people who think they’re smart. You know the type, people who use impressive sounding words they don’t know the meaning of, or who use them incorrectly. My favorites are people who don’t have a clue what they’re saying, but want you to believe they’re brilliant.

I used to work with such a person. She was of average intelligence, but was always eager to impress, which led her into some embarrassing moments. I was the Human Resources Manager at this company, and the woman I’m describing did a lot of data entry. She began to experience wrist pain, and sought medical care. So far, so good. At one point, she showed me the bottle that contained the medicine she was taking for inflammation. She was holding the bottle and told me she was taking 10 (Em Gees) twice a day. I thought she was stealing British sports cars, but when I looked at the bottle, I saw the dosage she was taking was 10 milligrams, twice a day. She didn’t know that “mg” is the abbreviation for milligram. So she took her ten Em Gees.

On another occasion, she asked about her eligibility for medical insurance. At the time she was on her husband’s plan. He worked at a local hospital. They were about to go through some staff cutbacks, commonly called lay-offs, or what we in the HR trade euphemistically call a Reduction In Force. No matter what you call it, some people are going to lose their jobs. She told me the hospital might be having a rift. I guess that means all the clinical people were going to stop speaking to the administrative types. When she said her husband might lose his job, I realized she meant to say RIF. I chuckled for days about that one.

I know what you’re thinking. I’m cruel to make fun of another person’s foibles. Perhaps I am. My rationalization is that it’s the pretentiousness I’m making fun of. Big picture, it doesn’t much matter if you don’t know the difference between a milligram and a Morris, or a rift and a RIF. Be who you are, not someone you aren’t. I promise, there will always be someone nearby to figure out that you’re faking it.