Enough bitching, it's time to work!

[Continued from Post: The Worst Day of the Trip]


The job we’ve been doing is to construct/install a cobblestone driveway for a man named Rolf Mathiessen. He’s a really nice guy. Social worker (drug addicts) and concert promoter. In fact, his hobby of promotions has just recently turned into a fulltime job, it’s working so well. He brought ‘Deep Purple’ to Bodø for a concert once. Come on, it’s Bodø...




















The job however sucks—digging for 2 days straight, then leveling sand (tedious), then installing the cobblestones. All 30 tonnes of them! All 225 square metres of them! Basically, a lot of lifting. As bad as it may seem, I know it’s good for me as is the experience of working in Norway, and perhaps, getting somewhat fitter. Back in Berlin I won’t be able to rely on sweet-talking and wordsmithing to charm the good graces of the female contingent, so a bit more fitness is only a good thing.


9 August

I began thinking about the strange vibe in the group that still persists, and it got me thinking about passive-aggressive behaviour. Over the years I simply have little tolerance for passive-aggressive people, as it does them no bit of good for others to succumb or to cater to these unhealthy ways. It’s not social to be passive-aggressive, and nobody appreciates:

a) How many tiny problems erupt into one massive and entirely preventable one;

b) The ‘martyrdom’ of the passive-aggressor, for ‘taking the hit without complaining’, as they fool themselves into thinking they are being ‘nice’ for not speaking, when in fact they are being a pushover because they lack the balls (assertiveness) to just stand up and say "This isn’t right and we must change it now." Instead, by taking these ‘hits’ they hope that someone will read their mind and know what they want, seeing the displeasure in their soul. Otherwise we’re back to point a) above.

Sorry. Can’t do it. Everyone’s different, but you have to stick to principles, and mine are that you don’t cater to all people if they are lacking in the ‘life lessons’ department. I’m not going to cater to someone’s lack of (essentially) social skills. Because how does anyone learn? You could argue however that it’s also a skill to be empathetic to these people… I guess it’s one man’s take on reality over another’s… It’s amazing the world functions at all.