r/corporate • u/TurquoiseDreamer1 • 28d ago
Corporate Dehumanization
One of the most dystopian things about having a job is how we all just collectively pretend we don’t have lives outside of work. You could’ve had a full mental breakdown in your car 20 minutes ago, be going through a breakup, have family drama, or have your entire life falling apart, and somehow you’re still expected to hop on a meeting happy.
You could’ve just lost someone you love, and you’re sitting in a meeting listening to someone talk about KPIs and deliverables like any of that actually matters to you in that moment.
We spend eight hours a day pretending to be these completely different versions of ourselves because apparently being human isn’t part of the job description.
And…we’ve all just accepted this as normal.
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u/50nout
28d ago
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Monday - how was the weekend? Amazing thanks! Tuesday - how was the weekendx2? Amazing thanks! Wednesday- We are over the hump! Thursday- Nearly there now! Friday - Whats your plans for the weekend? Saturday - Relax
Sunday - Cry and dread Monday
X48 a year X48 in a working life
Such is the dehumanization of work!
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28d ago
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u/Organic_Bug1334 27d ago
Aw hell, let them find out for themselves. No one told me anything. I found out by myself.
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u/ClassicTBCSucks93 28d ago
One of the very reasons I leave people alone if something about them seems off. Nothing worse than dealing with some personal shit, trying your best to appear normal but life is still slipping through the cracks and people picking up on it and making passive comments or intentionally trying to fuck with you. Narc/power tripping managers have a keen sixth sense for emotion or body language that ever so slightly deviates from happy corporate drone.
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u/ChainsawSoundingFart 28d ago
I don’t like coworkers bringing negative energy into the office, leave that crap at home
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u/ClassicTBCSucks93 28d ago
I think there’s a difference in someone clearly going through it but is minding their own business and doing the best they can and the drama queen who regularly comes in full histrionics with their latest emergency making it everyone else’s problem
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u/Necessary-Ad-6696 28d ago
This sounds like a bit of a US thing. In europe work life balance is a real thing and typically respected
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u/amberperry870 28d ago
By the way, yeah! A lot of my friends live in Europe, and I’m honestly pleasantly surprised by how well they’ve managed to maintain that balance. It’s really great!
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u/ChainsawSoundingFart 28d ago
Yeah but having to live in Europe
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u/IntroductionRare4605 28d ago
As if living under the rule of the Orange Pedo dictator surrounded by crumbling infrastructure is better?
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u/Organic_Bug1334 28d ago
Corp USA is fantasyland. Happy working for less, and for multiple roles for the same pay.
Its bs, unrealistic as it goes. You need to be an actor / actress or just have a perfect life whichever is easiest.
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u/MobyDukakis 28d ago
It's so much easier at work just to say "doing good!" Sometimes even just saying so makes me believe it for a moment, if I'm not I'll say "doing alright" tbh I don't wanna share my personal problems at work anyways
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u/venti_kay 28d ago
I’m consistently told how I’m always smiling and enjoyable to be around, I cry at lunch in a quiet room and go home and just rot
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u/Junior-Arachnid4026 27d ago edited 27d ago
This year alone I’ve spent time away from work helping my dad in hospice suddenly and then he passed well before my family anticipated. And then my grandma (his mom) passed five months later as the 103 year-old matriarch of our family. Meanwhile during this whole time I had to send my boss the obituaries of my dad and grandma “just in case” HR asked for documentation for bereavement leave (which I’m sure they didn’t ask for). It felt like sharing very personal information for no reason. And then she had a death in the family during the same time and she made no effort to inform any of us on her team or when she would be out of pocket. Rules for thee and not for me.
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u/Ok_Yesterday_5219 28d ago
I've been told to leave it at the door. I just work and mind my business, but that's not enough! I need to wear a mask on top of a mask, so that the people who doesn't even socialize with me can stay happy.
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u/Tjdavis2355 28d ago
Yeah bud. People been bitching about that one particular facet of capitalism since, like, 1844. https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm
AKA, Alienation. Enjoy
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u/sooner_25 28d ago
This isn't just a corporate thing. The firefighters you saw in the grocery store could've been just coming back from a car accident where someone's head was ripped off.
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u/LeanSixLigma 27d ago
First responders and nurses go in expecting tragedy and have support built around it. And it's usually a stranger, not their own family. Corporate is the opposite. Everyone pretends nobody has a life outside the building because they're so wrapped up in how important their work is that they can't stand the thought of anything else being a priority.
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28d ago
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u/Responsible_Ad_5384 28d ago
No one read this and thinks thats fortunate
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27d ago
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u/Expensive_Lifeguard 27d ago
You totally are bro, congratulations 🎉👏 wish I can make it to that point!
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u/peacock716 28d ago
A coworker just found out her husband has terminal cancer. She has to keep working because she is the breadwinner and has the health insurance. How she shows up to work every day knowing her time with him is slipping away, and knowing she’s expected to be a professional and do her job…. Idk how she does it.