After an almost 5 year stint at JS it's nice to see some familiar faces. I'd rather not mention my name on here because it is highly searchable by those with which I work. Please don't make any guesses in comments; it should become pretty obvious after a while.
I was thinking lately about loyalty and how some people are extremely loyal to certain friends and family members but can't keep their word with strangers, co-workers, or even their spouses. I've known quite a few people that were not well-liked and had a reputation for sabotaging people out of jealousy who had a huge network of friends. They all seemed to have this undying loyalty to each other. Were they really loyal or just scared to be on each others' bad sides?
If I make a promise, before any words are uttered I have to be sure that I am fully capable of carrying out the promise. There have been times that I got myself in deeper than I wanted out of the desire to please a person/people, and have had to severely inconvenience myself to carry out the promise. In some rare cases I have had to come clean and tell the person that I was unable to do what I had promised. In my younger years I'd had run away or have avoided the person altogether, but now I find it very hard to do that unless I feel like I would be in danger otherwise.
What does the word loyalty mean to you?
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Someone who keeps my best interests at heart (at no expense to anyone else) would be considered "loyal" to me.
ReplyDeleteI might have read you on JS, but I'm not sure who you are. Hopefully I'll figure it out :)
Oh, you read me Kate.
ReplyDeleteYou even sent me stuff in ze mail.
Getting an idea now?
I knew right away. Glad you are writing~
ReplyDeleteI think that people who are scared to be on each other's bad sides are not being loyal, but rather just subscribing to the philosophy of "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer". Admittedly, I don't think that's such a bad philosophy to follow, especially at work.
ReplyDeleteMy idea of loyalty is expressed in this quote: “If all my friends were to jump off a bridge, I wouldn't follow. I'd be at the bottom to catch them when they fall.”
I think the Sicilians had a good idea about keeping their enemies closer, for sure. I think work is the type of place that it is most needed, as well.
ReplyDeleteI fully identify with you on that last paragraph. I takes a lot to prise anything more than “I promise to do my best” out of me when those dread words “Do you promise?” are uttered.
ReplyDelete