There's some standard of what it is to "look professional." Although I am aware of it, I don't value it. There is a dress code at work, and I haven't gotten in trouble for looking unprofessional. I don't have the manicure. I don't have the spiffy suitcoats. I don't have the right shoes. I don't have the make-up. I don't have the right haircut with the blond highlights. But I am clean and I abide by the dress code. And so far that's fine.
I am disgusted by the articles in the "Home" section of the newspaper about staging a house that's for sale. I realize that the sellers may have to do it. But I'm disgusted with a society when our decision-making is so heavily influenced by such things.
So when I hear about staging for job interviews, I am likewise disgusted. I realize that the person applying for the job has to play the game. But c'mon, really, do we think that having the Right Kind of folder or Right Kind of briefcase or Right Kind of car should give one person an edge in being hired?
Cookie cutters.
We say we value creativity and individuality and open-mindedness and problem-solving.
We lie.
We value rubber stamps and cookie cutters.
Signed,
The square peg who doesn't want
sandpaper to fix me so that I'll fit
the round hole
Monday, April 30, 2012
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
A few minutes after posting this, we sat down to read Ivanhoe. We're on chapter 36, and the quote that started today's chapter was this:
ReplyDeleteSay not my art is fraud -- all live by seeming.
The beggar begs with it, and the gay courtier
Gains land and title, rank and rule, by seeming;
The clergy scorn it not, and the bold soldier
Will eke with it his service. All admit it,
All practise it; and he who is content
With showing what he is, shall have small credit
In church, or camp, or state --
So wags the world.
Small credit, eh? I guess I'll have to live with it.
That is a stunning quote. Reminds me of the opening song in Jekyll and Hyde (which we saw this past weekend). I linked it on Facebook--it is called "Facade."
ReplyDeleteAbout home staging...My dad's house is on the market. It was a filthy, cluttered wreck. When I say filthy, I mean mouse turds under the carpeting we removed, OK? So we decluttered, painted, recarpeted bedrooms, and had an offer within the week. It may stink that staging is so critical, but sometimes it's just plain necessary.
ReplyDelete1. Yes, I understand that staging is important because that's the game that's being played out there, and if you don't play the game, you forfeit.
ReplyDelete2. Melody, I don't think I'd call what you did "staging." That sounds like cleaning and making things presentable. That's a lot different from going out and buying wall art, certain books, maybe even new furniture, and combining it with a certain sure-to-sell-the-house air freshener.