No Wonder They Love Him

So Pack Rat got himself a temporary job working for the school system. Decent hours, not bad money, nice people to work with. And, given his work ethic, he's popular enough that they've encouraged him to apply for a permanent position. And no wonder. All the rest of the employees there belong to the union and have the same mindset: don't work any harder than you have to. Unfortunately, since the job doesn't pay much, he's keeping an eye out for something better.

Most likely, the same situation prevails with Bag Lady. She got herself a fairly decent job with the city -- which is also no doubt heavily unionized -- and immediately, her work ethic kicked in. None of this "That's not my department" stuff for her. She just jumped in, learned her job, and did her best. Last word was, she's quite popular there. At least, among her superiors. Her peers probably aren't quite so enthusiastic about the way she surely shows them up.

All of this reminds us of the story of a Navajo bricklayer from years ago. He could lay bricks faster and straighter than anyone going. Unfortunately, he was required to join the union, and the union had a rule that said you don't lay more than X bricks in a day. He didn't bother counting, he just kept laying bricks. Naturally, he was always in trouble with the union for "going over his quota". Last word was that he was unemployed and an alcoholic.

Too bad there are so many outfits that don't know how to encourage excellence.

.