My desk is cluttered. Why? It just is. I find some comfort in the disorganization. My contribution to the larger society of the cave. My art from the exposure to the of cave society. Funny, the cave is a prison to the those of us forced to return, home to those that have never left. It is my art, my science. The individual trying to find meaning in the chaos of pretending elders. Wisdom is not valued in the cave. Intellect is dismissed for the daily operation. Money leaves an awful mess of priorities misunderstood and communication is lauded by those that do not share.
Sorry....rambling again. But it makes sense, at least to those sent back to the cave. Read recently that those who have reached self-actualization in accordance with Maslow, never lose their thirst for it. When needs are met, one does not react well to their loss. If my cavemate is happy in making sure that physical needs are met, it is because she has never had her esteem needs met. But when one reaches the spiritual fulfillment offered by lifeworld arrangements, the loss of these sends one spiraling downward. Not everybody understands - how could they when they have not reached that level of life.
The cave is cold and dark now. The images dance on the wall a little slower today. Whitman would find no joy here, no understanding of the cave's inhabitants. Emerson would not stoop so low as to see who is in the cave. Plato stands at the entrance laughing in a knowingly way, but tries to be sympathetic. Rene' is trying to do the math. Camus is a stranger viewing the cave and its inhabitants. Box laughs at the Ankh. Nichols plays to the heart, not seeing the shackles. And the one with rake just keeps raking, ignoring the images, inhabitants, the skeletons while waiting for dead shagman to pass his decree.
Sorry, readers, feeling drained. The cave is damp and I want to be dry. The floor is hard and muddy, I want my soft flannel sheets. I wonder what Neo is doing tonight?
Sorry, my dear readers. I know that the two of you have probably left this site due to the lack of my involvement. No real good excuses, just trying to navigate the cave and discovering many new passages, images on the walls, and the shadows that inhabit the darkness. I have been trying once again to get out of the cave seeing the reflection of sunlight bounce off some walls in the cave. As I seek their source in an attempt to escape, the rays turn out to be, well, just more reflections of light and not light itself. But that is the nature of the cave is it not?!
Since we last met, the department at OSC has been introduced to the permanent manager hired by the Chancellor of the college. And the Chancellor did not fail to disappoint - or, more appropriately, disappoint himself. He hired someone just like himself - someone more concerned in appearance than in substance. The Chancellor has a history of poor hires - from an organizational effectiveness viewpoint. The HR autocrat, the pretentious Fundraiser, the ancient and useless Exec. Vice Chancellor (who is gone more than he is present - physically as well as intellectually) were all the "C's" (the Chancellor) doing and we have been made to suffer ever since.
The new manager from, hmmm...let's call them: "Rodeoho" wears ties as a way of seeming professional in a blue collar department. He has a degree hanging the wall in Finance, which helps me to understand the current economic crisis we are in - by his decision-making processes. He says the devil is in the details which as means: "I can't really see big picture." We are trying to do the job working with him, but it is his personality and the way he is expressing it that has everyone concerned. He doesn't associate with 'certain people' as he says. Interesting, many of those people are in the department. He doesn't try to adapt and think outside the box, but yet wants to try and get a hold of how to do things differently. He doesn't upset the process and procedure, but then learns that the procedure is not what he thought it was. Just like the Chancellor and EVC, he does not apologize for false accusations and learning that he is wrong. He, like they, ignore the simple manners of decency as they appear to be well-mannered and well-bred.
I guess if you are of a certain breed in the caste system, you do not have to stoop to honesty when dealing with others. maybe it is just too much to ask of the leadership, decency that is. The patriarchal structure must have those that simply do no wrong to guide those of us who are ignorant and stupid. We just do not possess the organizational capability to understand that our inclusion into the decision-making process is just, well, messy, cumbersome, and that we just do not and cannot understand the 'big picture.' Therefore, we do not need to be apologized to for being forgotten, unappreciated, and certainly not understood. Because we are simple folk, our mental capacity is just not big enough to comprehend what tough and difficult decisions that they have to make....ones that take 6 months to make such as what to do when our last director retired.
Thank God we have our Chancellor and EVC, our Business manager and fundraiser! We just would be able to make sense out of our silly little lives and jobs without their benevolent guidance and paternalistic dismissals. Now we have our own in the new manager. Thanks for thinking of us and providing what you "know" we need!
Thanks for tuning back in. From the cave, it's Justin Credibill.
