Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Some people are undependable. Most of the time, I can choose to work with them or not. My choice can tell me much about myself.

I know people who fit the title of this post.

If they tell me they will be someplace at nine o’clock, I am almost certain they will appear no sooner than 9:15.

If they volunteer to bring cookies (or whatever) to an event, I ask someone else to also bring cookies (or whatever) to the event.

Politicians – let’s use them as one stereotypical example – are dependably undependable. If they say a bill will not raise taxes, I can depend that the bill will raise taxes.

Computer programmers – let’s use them as another stereotypical example – are dependably undependable. If a programmer says he tested the changes he made to software, he probably didn’t. If a programmer says he didn’t touch any code other than the code he was supposed to touch, he probably touched other code.

Are these people liars? Think about this. They say something (I’ll be there on time, there are no taxes hidden here, I tested the code) that isn’t true, and they often say things that aren’t true. That is the definition of being a liar, isn’t it? I suppose there is a difference between lying and merely being undependable. It seems that the undependable have good intentions. They intend to appear on time and bring what they promised. Something just seems to get in the way or come up at the last minute or … I can always depend on the undependable to have plenty of excuses.

Enough about those dependably undependable people. Let’s talk about me.

Why would I depend on someone who I know is undependable?

Have I ever confronted one of the dependably undependable about their undependability?

Do I relish watching the dependably undependable fail time after time?

Do I depend on the dependably undependable to give me a sense of superiority?

The questions and their answers start to hurt. The questions and their answers tell me much about myself, some of which I may not want to realize.