Week 3.23: These Boots...

Week 3.23: These Boots...is a photo I took in amazing Santa Fe with my good friend, B. I wish these were my boots; but boots like these in Santa Fe, well, they aren't in my budget. Probably ever. A girl can still window shop, though, right?

Tonight I was reminded of a time when These Boots...would've been perfect. And even though I didn't happen to have These Boots at the time, I did just what they were made for...walking.

There has been only one time when I quit a job on principle. And the principle of it all hinged on The Little Red Hen. Yes. The Little Golden Book classic.

I worked at one of the jobs I hated most...probably THE job I hated most in the whole of my working life. The staff at that job used to have to go in thirty minutes early every Monday morning (decidedly the worst day of the week to head for work early)...just so we could go over the numbers for the previous week and project numbers for the week we were starting.

There were lame motivational "games." And even more lame "prizes." And even more lame "contests." I'm just being honest...they didn't work on any of us. I doubt they work on many people.

Anyhow, when the manager (who had been "in the business" for nearly twenty years...a fact she regularly reminded us of...with major overtones of pride and minor undertones of bitterness) attended a leadership powwow of some influence she came back with a fire lit. And it hinged, as I mentioned, on The Little Red Hen.

She actually brought the book on a Monday morning and read The Little Red Hen to her entire staff...which, unfortunately for her, included me on that fateful morning...because I put in my two week notice that very day.

After reading the book from cover to cover, she proceeded to interrogate us on the management skills of The Little Red Hen. To my complete and utter shock and dismay, The Little Red Hen was run straight into the ground for her abysmal failure to lead the troops as it were. It was purported that The Little Red Hen lacked the skills and heart to motivate and challenge her peers and underlings. She failed to color opportunities with a bright, shiny brush, thus she was unable to help workers get behind her. Etc. ad naseum.

Well. I happen to have been a HUGE fan of The Little Red Hen from my earliest memory. And I never thought The Little Red Hen's aspirations were for middle management. It never entered my mind. I admired The Little Red Hen for her vision and dedication to her tasks. Her diligence. Her pluck. Her ability to set her hand to the plow and not look back. The fact that she didn't give a second thought to those who wouldn't join her. The fact that she struck out on her own and enjoyed it. (Maybe that's the introvert in my talking...)

At any rate, the damage was done. My childhood hero lay slain and slandered. And I was left desperate to do something about it.

So. I. Quit. That. Very. Day. And. I. Never. Looked. Back. Ever.

Sometimes you just have to do something based on principle.

Even if all you have are a proverbial form of These Boots...

So get out there and do what These Boots...were made for.

p.s. I will forever love my friend, Daisy Mayhem/Schmee, who purchased a lovely copy of The Little Red Hen and presented it to me as a gift upon discovering that I had given my notice and quit.