It’ll come as no surprise to anyone who’s been following me for a while that I hate my day job (or bottomless pit of despair if you catch me on a really good day) It’s strange, I’m good at what I do, I quite like what I do, and yet, I have issues with the job. I suspect it’s something to do with not being a corporate robot.
This presented an “interesting” dilemma. I had checked out of that aspect of my life and was finding it hard to check back in to run Fight Mediocrity. Then a couple of weeks back Catherine wrote the post about unexpected strengths. I realised I wasn’t interested in strengths, I was interested in Super-powers. After a liitle more thought, and a realisation that everyone has a superpower, I realised that what I was missing wasn’t the superpower, or the super hero identity. No, what I was missing was the mild-mannered alter ego. Someone who could take the drudgery of the everyday job life and stop it interfering with my hero work. Yes, I needed a Secret Identity.
So, I created one. “Employee dude” Employee dude is all about blending in until I can assume my true identity full time. Employee dude needed to fit in and not stand out. Employee dude was not enough. I had to create more. I needed to make it fun again as I may be stuck with it for some time. So, I gave my secret identity a back story.
Employee dude was attempting to infiltrate the top secret lair of the master villain – Faceless corporation. In order to do this he needs every trick at his disposal. He has to pretend that free will has been beaten out of him, along with ambition and the need for work life balance. He has to don the mask of bitterness and resentment when he steps out of the office. He has to engage in periodic bouts of moaning about the status quo (rather than going “If you don’t like it, break the system, here’s a hammer”) His mission, and the safety of the free world, depends on it.
So, every morning, I climb into the transformatron (my car) and change from the Dragon Slayer of future legends, into employee dude. (the transformation involves coffee, fortunately) I go to work, perform as well as I can, and basically, try not to create any waves. Every day I ask myself the question “Will today be the day they realise I’m awesome?” Everyday, I climb back into the transformatron after quitting time and become The Dragon Slayer.
It’s made things a lot more bearable, mainly because suddenly it’s all fun. It’s not paperwork, it’s the tedious trap of boredom that must be dismantled. It’s not a client complaint, it’s a fiery pit of death that a bridge must be constructed across. And it’s not retirement at the end of the labyrinth, it’s freedom.
Suddenly, it’s all a game.
And tomorrow, it’s time to go after the minotaur of QESH. That bastard keeps interupting my coffee break.
Where could you use a mild-mannered alter ego?
