Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Old adage, but still true. Something about pointing a finger at someone else means you have three fingers pointing at myself.

The News Channel (fill in with your favorite news channel that you dislike) reports that corporations are greedy and only want more money. Of course, The News Channel is itself a corporation that moves persons in and out of the camera’s eye depending on who brings the most viewers and the most advertising money. That is not greed on the part of The News Channel, it is just, uh, er, well, never mind.

The News Channel reports that corporations have accountants that dig through the tax law and find “loopholes” to reduce their taxes and cheat the American tax payer. The News Channel itself is a corporation that has accountants that…well, you know. And, by the way, the high-paid reporter on The News Channel has a tax specialist doing her taxes and advising how to shift income into different categories to reduce tax liability, but that is just, uh, er, well, never mind.

The project manager complains that upper management is putting arbitrary deadlines on work. The project manager tells the system builders to finish everything a week before the deadline just in case something goes wrong and they will have a cushion. That “week” is an arbitrary figure and an arbitrary deadline, but this is just, uh, er, well, never mind.

The programmer complains that the tool being used is buggy and causes extra work. The system the programmer built might have a few bugs in it and need an occasional reset, but that is just, uh, er, well, never mind.

Everyone but us.