Managing Idleness

I have to come out of the closet

I used to be a McDonalds manager

There, said it - phew! I realise now that when I managed an area there I was indeed idle. If I was running the kitchen say, I would plonk myself next to the transfer bin (the thing that the food slid down) and instruct others to cook. Now I know that I wasn't lazy, I had to communicate with virtually everyone that was serving to find out what they needed, keep an eye on what was kept ready, work out what was needed, and communicate with my kitchen staff doing the cooking. On top of that I needed to keep eyes in the back of my head to ensure that food safety and quality wasn't suffering at the hands of a just out of school moron. However when you perform that job well you make it look easy, you have to think about everything, but that doesn't show to a normal staff member. The fact of the matter is that I was percieved as idle because I could do my job with my hands in my pockets - that doesn't necessarily mean that it was easy. This leads us back to our professional idlers - those that are furtunate enough to find a vocation that stimulates them should do it, it's simple advice that any one of us would give to a friend 'Go for it'. But what upsets the apple cart is when a great deal of that work involves idling.

Hmm, interesting must think on on this subject

Robin