THIS IS A THOUGHT FROM BELOW, ABOVE, AFAR AND UP CLOSE

FROM BELOW:  "Management don't know ***!"
FROM ABOVE: "What do they know?"
FROM AFAR:   "They're completely out of touch."
FROM UP CLOSE:  "They need to get their hands dirty."
                             "They have to pay the bills now and then."
I was in a situation this morning that was conducive to the conversation that you see above.  From a person who has spent a lot of time in all of the positions and heard and even uttered some of the sentiments quoted here, I can assure you that the conversation was very interesting indeed.  It just so happened, as it usually does in my case, that I was talking to a person from above, helping me, a person from below.  I was sitting there waiting for him to do the work that was going to relieve me and extricate me from an embarrassing situation.  He kept apologizing for the time it was taking and complimenting me on my patience.  After a while I paraphrased an Italian saying that I had heard many times several years ago, 
"Patience is the only thing that poor people have."
We mumbled some philosophical agreements to one another about that and went about our business.  That's when I realized that I was now on the ground floor and that I had many occasions to opine about those above, you know, the ones who don't know ***!.  Then, on the way home, before I got to the house, I realized that it is a good thing that they don't know ***!, otherwise they wouldn't make the mistake of letting me work at home.  It was  then that I flashed back on the wit of St. Agustin who said about Adam and Eve, "Oh, happy fault that it caused the coming of the Savior."  Yeah, really.  If the owners for whom I work were smart, would they allow me to work at home?  How do they know whether or not I have myself on their "clock" at this very moment?  I guess they will have to just trust me.  I hope that they won't "smarten up."  Then again, I will have to work my tail off today to assure  that the numbers will be equal to what they expect to get paid for next week.  HHmmmm, looks to me like I should have waited until tonight before getting into this "365 Thoughts..." thing at this time of day.  Looks like it's going to be a sleep-rationed night in this household.
I do have to admit one thing.  Even when I was "from above" and "from afar", I did have moments when I admitted to myself that there is indeed a disconnect between the floor and the ceiling.  There is just so much wall that is needed to complement the perfection of the room.  It is on the judicious line of contact between the two that the communication needs to be as complete as possible.  The space in the middle, between the floor and the ceiling, is only as comfortable as the contours allow it to be.  Now, more than ever, because I've been in both places, and "done that", I realize it and try to support those for whom I am the floor in the most comfortable fashion possible.  
In order to do that, I am going to shut this down now and get to work.


I did work all day.  Now, say good night, and, oh, by the way Denis, don't forget to shut off the light.  The switch button is on your side, ya know!


Sorry, Folks...Inside joke -- :-)