He was obviously slacking on the job. He had received a warning, and failed to improve his performance. So, in the low tolerance arena of Christmas Tree Decorating, he was summarily dismissed from his duties.
And, this was all driven by my 6 year old nephew.
Even my nephew quickly picked up on the fact that hubby likes to lean back in his chair and watch as people around him scramble to complete tasks. Since he likes to do things on his own timeline, it seems that he was too slow to hang the ornaments and when he decided to sit down on the job, my nephew had enough and told him he was FIRED!
I suppose you could look at this one of two ways:
1) My nephew is being taught at a very early age to not tolerate slackers and to not lower his expectations to meet people’s lack-luster performance
OR
2) He’s being indoctrinated at a very young age into “traditional” male behavior. Which dictates that you should slack off just enough so that people around you are compelled to finish your task.
It’s a sly way of training youngsters. It’s not overt. It’s certainly not detailed in any sort of literature (that would undoubtedly provide proof!) It’s done in plain sight, in a way that doesn’t draw attention, but makes a little boy realize just how much their adult role model can get away with. And then – the seed is planted. All that needs to be done is to let it take root, and slowly grow as the boy gets older and dips his toe into the pool of “doing just enough to appear that you are trying - and then allowing someone else to finish the project”
It’s either BRILLIANT. Or MADNESS! I’m still not sure which.
But, I will say this…….There have been many days when I would like to fire hubby.
Like the day when he sat next to me in front of the tv folding laundry. I had folded 42 different items and hubby had folded 3. Or the day when I asked him numerous times to move a heavy box into the basement and it sat there for weeks. Or even the day when I asked him to clean his whiskers out of the sink, only to find that he must have made a swish of his hand with the sponge, and only captured an itty bitty fraction of what was actually in the sink and declared himself to be DONE!
"Slightly" adjusted to back up my case!
On all these days I would have liked to say “You’re Fired”. But I’ve learned over the years that it’s far better (and much more rewarding) to look at him after he’s half-assed a task and happily declare… “You’re NOT fired”. And, “I’m certain you will do better next time!”
Touché dear hubby touché!
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You really should turn this blog into a book!! I think you would make a fortune because women love to read about how they are all dealing with the same man problems, and you always hit the nail right on the head. Love your blog!!
photosfromtheloonybin ~ I would LOVE to write a book… it’s just a matter of finding the time. Between baking Digiorno pizzas, throwing away soda cans, chasing magical paper towels wiping up crumbs, cleaning out drawers and occasionally squeezing in a blog post… I’m really only left with excess time to do my ACTUAL job (which is more than 40 hours a week). Fingers crossed, starting a book is actually on my Christmas vacation To Do list (well, starting it anyway!)
BTW – Thanks for your kind comments!
Ha – I feel like firing Ian when he leaves his stuff around the sink. I mean, I made a nice large place for everything (toothpaste, razor, deodorant, etc) in the bathroom drawer but in the end I always end up putting it back. This was such a humorous and adorable way to blog about this though, it really made me laugh!
lifevesting ~ Ahhhh.. the good ‘ol “crap on the bathroom counter” debate. If only I had a nickel…….. LOL
Don’t you hate when the actual job gets in the way of the much more satisfying hobbies. I have the same problem. LOL I’m really glad to hear you plan to start a book. Another thing that I do on the side is book reviewing, so down the road when your bestseller is complete, I would love to review it for you!
ohhhh yes, those dang jobs…. they are always getting the way of all the “good stuff”! I appreciate the offer of a review. Hopefully some day (within a reasonable amount of time) I will be able to take you up on that!!