Are you in the right job?

In a perfect world, people would be hired because they are the best at the job they are applying for. In a perfect world, that best hired person for the job would take pride in his talent and work and provide the best product and/or service as he was hired to do. That's in a "perfect" world - but we don't live in a "perfect" world, do we? What I've seen happen more often is the wrong person in a job. The wrong person doesn't do the job right. The wrong person doesn't "love" the job or the product or the service. The wrong person has no pride in the job and the wrong person often makes the customers of the product or service unsatisfied. How did the wrong person get that job? Why is the wrong person still doing that job?

It happens too often. Some will point to the supply and demand of human resources as the culprit while others may say it's the politics game involved in the hiring process. "That person only got the job because he's white." Or "That person only got the job because she slept with the boss." Or "That person only got the job because her Daddy owns the company." Etcetera. How they got the job may be a source of annoyance to undervalued employees who have the experience and credentials, but how they got the job is irrelevant regarding HOW to solve the problem that the Wrong person in the job is hurting the business or company.

Why do I care about this? I'm retired. I don't hire people nor do I have a boss. True, but I am a customer. Saturday I went to play Bingo. I haven't done that in many years. The basic pack costs $30 and I spent a total of $40 there. I was enjoying sitting there in the smoking room playing the games. I was glad that I could not afford the "speedy" extra games because the numbers are called very fast and I'm a very slow player. Though I had not gotten the joy of yelling "Bingo!" I was still happy that I decided to go play and be somewhere else besides my living room. I got to see people and feel less isolated. That part was very nice. I thought that my $40 was well spent... Until the last game which included the high jackpot win of $250. I probably wasn't going to win the jackpot, but the excitement of the possibility is the fun of the game. But right before that last game started, they changed the Caller person. The new caller was calling the numbers so fast as if she was calling for a Speedy game. I got flustered and frustrated and upset and I couldn't keep up. I crumpled up my paper boards and went home. I felt gyped out of the last game. That caller probably thought I was silly. She was just a volunteer working for tips. To my knowledge the people that "work" there all work for tips as volunteers. So no one is responsible for "hiring" her. Yet the way that I felt when I was leaving is the dissatisfaction of service that I'm talking about regarding customers and business. The wrong person in any job (paid or volunteer) will affect the business or organization.

For the past five years I was looking for the "right" job. I couldn't accept the "over the hill" 50-year-old "give it up" thing. I looked and looked, and applied and applied. Nothing. I kept doing my entrepreneurial endeavors and stayed faithful to my training and belief in competent customer service. I still see competent employees. Most of them work at the restaurants. The cooks, the servers, the drive thru cashiers, they satisfy me more than not. However, in other areas of service I often see the "Wrong" person in a job.

Why would you want a salesman to fix your toilet? Why would you want a pimp to tutor your children? Why would you want a musician to clean your house? Why would you want a mechanic to cook your dinner? Why would you want a police officer to recommend a book or a show? What I'm trying to say is that some people are not just identifying with their jobs - Their jobs are their skills and personality. Not everyone can do every job. Jack of all Trades is a rare person. When will people (individuals) accept the truth about themselves? When will they be honest enough to say "I can do this, but I can't do that."? When they can reach that honesty, we might be close to that "perfect" world I'm talking about.

Most of the time the people who care about equal opportunity legislation and discrimination policy are advocates for social justice. However the more they try to fix those problems with laws and red tape, the worse those problems get. Then the problems increase with the added layer of secret immorality. Then everyone laughs and just calls that politics. It's not funny. It's not funny to the economy. It's not funny to the business owners. And it's not funny to the dissatisfied customer.

If you want to spend your life wasting other people's money or arguing about a law in a courtroom that will change nothing about people, go ahead. You're wasting your time. I write this article the same way that the Apostles wrote the gospels. Some said they wasted their time, but I must express what I witness and I feel. Maybe my words will change something, maybe not. At least it's off my chest. Does this article change the fact that at times I get gyped by poor customer service? No. But it just might make somebody with a job introspect about how that job and service affects society and other people.