Yes its true. Good guys always finish last. If I had a dollar for every single time I experienced this, I would be a rich guy. Well, its not like am 70 years old or something, I am only 33 – but in a short span of 33 years I have come across so many incidents of good guys ending up last, that it has left me angry and confused.
Whether its school, college, workplace – its always the same. In school the meek get bullied, in college they get ragged, at work its much worse.
While working in India, the hard working guys and the other (who would goof around at work) would end up being treated the same. Same promotions, same raises, same incentives – everything pretty much the same. Why you ask – simple, either because the other guys had more influence or were just way too good at talking with their bosses out of any uncomfortable situations. And what about the good hard working guys – well they always ended up with more work!!
In the US workplace, things were’nt much different. In fact things were actually much worse. I personally lost 2-3 jobs for stating the truth to the manager – that I had worked hard to automate the tasks assigned to me and I would now like to move to some other department. Would he help me move? Well, move me he did, out of the company that is. Yes, you guessed it right ? I got laid off for doing a job well. What about the guys who kept doing the same dumb job over and over again? They were blessed with working in the same job for many more years to come.
Sounds like a rant does it not? Whichever way you look at it, this has been my experience. Based on this, I am not sure whether the meek will ever inherit the world. Maybe I am still too young. Maybe I have not experienced a lot of adversity in life and cannot think beyond my own little world. Maybe I am a simpleton or too naive. Maybe I should be more opportunistic or manipulative like the others. Maybe I should just sit on my back side when I know that the task at hand can be simplified to the point where I would not be required. But then isn’t this the wrong thing to do? Aren’t these the qualities which separate the good from the bad? No matter how hard I try, I will never be able to become like the others. I will always be what I have chosen to be thus far, which has been fine so far, I guess! But now my wife and I are planning to have a kid. The million dollar question for me now is as to how to raise my kid. Should I tell the kid to be a replica of what I have been my entire life – just to end up watching the others succeed faster than them? Or should I tell to be like the others, be far from being meek, and experience succees like I might never be able to see?
Let me know your inputs.
Author: Kevin Joseph- India