It's the Same, Only Different

When I was in the army, we called civilian life "The World", as if the army wasn't part of the real world. It seemed that way because most of us hadn't had all that much experience in the real world before we went into the army. I never thought of school as part of the real world either, and the army was like school in some ways. I didn't think that working a real job was like either school or the army, but that's because I never worked for a large corporation like Procter & Gamble until after I got out of the army. P&G wasn't exactly like the army, nothing is, but it wasn't as different as you might think. They didn't have the drill and ceremonies of the army, but they certainly had a chain of command, and the rules under which it operated were almost exactly the same.

One difference was that we had a union grievance procedure that was supposed to help you when you went over your boss's head, but that was frequently less effective than just doing it yourself. Another difference was that they seldom gave us direct orders at the paper mill. They preferred the manipulative style of management, and would only go authoritarian on you as a last resort. I think they got points if they could con you into doing something, and lost points if they had to give you a direct order. What was the same was that you could get into official trouble for disobeying a direct order, but not for disputing one of their manipulative suggestions. The same test applied where, if you doubted the authenticity one of their instructions, you could ask them if it was a direct order and, if they knew they were in the wrong, they would admit that it wasn't. In the army they got mad at you if you argued with them, but they encouraged it in the paper mill. The only time that they got mad at you for arguing was if you won. In both places, they got mad at you if you went over their head, especially if you won. In both places, they higher up guy didn't care about your concerns, but they did care that the lower down guy wasn't able to handle the matter himself so they wouldn't have to be bothered with it. They didn't say that to your face, but they must have said something to the lower down guy because he would never like you again after that.

You're right that this kind of thing didn't happen very often, except for the part about having to ask them if it was a direct order. That happened more at the paper mill than it did in the army, believe it or not. Most military leaders were just trying to get the job done with the least hassle, while the paper mill mangers seemed to thrive on hassle. I think it was part of their ongoing training, stir up trouble and then see how long it takes you or somebody else to straighten it out.

I saw something about that bathroom controversy on the TV news the other day. They were talking about Michigan where, so far, it's only a suggestion, but they mentioned that a couple of states have passed laws about it. Let me get this straight: School children are having sex change operations? What in the hell is the matter with their parents? Never mind, I think I know the answer to that.