El Cliente

Goodness, it's been awhile since I posted anything. This is what happens when work kicks into overdrive and my daily life becomes: wake up, go to work, eat, poop, go home, sleep, and wake up. Rinse well. Repeat.

When I'm this busy at work, I sometimes reflect on things once I get home and start decompressing. Funny the kinds of thoughts a tired mind can conjure up. Yesterday, on my way home at a ridiculous hour, I started thinking about the notion of The Client, and how we all seem to have them. Our taskmasters. People we have to please in some way, usually for some form of compensation or job requirement. If you're not independently wealthy or homeless, you probably have a Client (or more than one) who has inordinate power and influence over your job and ultimately, your daily happiness. Think about it. Most of us have to work for a living. And no matter what it is that we do, we have to please SOMEBODY in order to get paid the few paltry sheckels that we take home and use to buy socks and underwear. And foods. We all need foods.

The Client rules all. He, she, or it is the source of the cash, the bread, the schwag, the bones, the greenbacks that everyone is competing for. You want the Client to be happy. To like you. To NEED you. Like a codependent lover, you want the Client to keep coming back for more, to keep the business and the funds flowing your way. Your relationship with the Client, or more accurately, your co-workers' perception of your relationship with the Client, dictates your salary, your job status, your upward mobility, your future financial and professional success, and to a large extent, your happiness. Happy Client, Happy Boss, Happy Me. Unhappy Client, Unhappy Boss, Unhappy Me, Crappy Living Situation.

Sometimes the Client has many heads, because there can be several people who comprise the Client. Maybe you like dealing with one or two of the heads, but not some of the others. Maybe head # 3 is giving you ulcers, but you get along really well with head #5. Maybe something didn't get done so well for head #2 because you were too busy trying to keep head #8 happy. It can be quite the frigging quandary, people.

Even if you work at McDonald's, you have Clients. That screaming kid who isn't getting the McShamrock Shake he wants because it's not fucking St. Patrick's Day -- he's a Client. That obese fast food junky who's sweating profusely as he orders his 3 Big Macs, large fries, hot apple pie, and a DIET Coke for lunch -- he's a Client. If you want to move up in McDonald's World, you gotta make these people happy.

Plumbers have Clients, social workers have Clients, teachers have Clients. If you have a job, you most likely have a Client to please. And if the Client is not happy on a given day or week, it's amazing what kind of an effect it can have on your life, if you let it. Some of it I'm sure depends on the person and how much they give a shit about their job, but for me, it matters a great deal. I put a lot of effort into what I do for a living and when all is not kosher, for whatever reason, I gets real ornery.

Usually my insane mood swings have more to do with the pressures of upcoming deadlines and the never-ending amount of work I have ahead of me than they have to do with Clients. Like a tidal wave that you see coming in the distance but can do nothing to stop. While you're just a few yards in from the shore, trying to tread water and keep your head above the surface, you see the coming tragedy and you know that very soon, the doggy paddle isn't going to cut it. You'll be lucky if you escape with your competence, your dignity, and your bathing suit intact.

So.... what to do with all this stress and angst? One has to find outlets for relaxation and recharging. To learn to say "no" to new work when it's appropriate (not like the lazy a-holes who say "no" as a matter of course because they would rather have other people do their work for them and take every Saturday off). And most importantly, you have to find a balance in life and try to find and enjoy other interests outside of work.

For me, this has been a total uphill climb. I'm a bit of a workaholic, and I have trouble leaving something unfinished or not as good as it could be if I just put in a few more hours to make it right. I also have trouble delegating. It can be a problem. Indeed, this very blog is suffering greatly as a result.

But I'm a stubborn Mofo, so I will force the issue eventually. The Client might pay for the apartment, but it's not going to keep me warm at night. In fact, the Client is pretty lousy in bed.