Workplace Advice

When they say
“you’re overqualified,”
believe them. Thank them,
then surpass them.
Do better: 
become their bosses,
their competitors,
their rivals; better still, 
render them
irrelevant or forgotten.
Not everything 
is up to them.

When they say, “don’t
come to me with a problem
without having a solution,”
understand that in their heads
the sentence too often ends after 
“ don’t come to me”
and the rest too often translates to
“la la la la la la I can’t hear you.”
Your irritation, your pain, your
confusion or frustration
are enough reason 
to speak up. Not everything
is up to you.

When they say, “if you’re bored
then you’re boring,”
whisper or shout “bullshit”
depending on your level of safety.
Sometimes a meeting is boring.
Sometimes a person is boring.
Sometimes this grind grinds so hard
it’s easy to forget
that what’s out there
is soft and fascinating and 
endless. We wish for an end
to all their prattle
but you are here now and 

if they say to you, “Do what you love
and you’ll never work a day
in your life,” believe them
only long enough to distinguish 
between temporary consent
and permanent compulsion.
Your joy awaits,
and nothing of that
is truly in their hands.