Episodes
Friday Feb 21, 2020
Ep.9 The Tao of the Janitor
Friday Feb 21, 2020
Friday Feb 21, 2020
Chicken Mind Nuggets.
Hosted by Wifey
Chickenmindnuggets.com
@mindchicken
References for this episode
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-power-paradox-the-surprising-and-sobering-science-of-how-we-gain-and-lose-influence?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Music graciously provided by
Music from https://filmmusic.io
"Thinking Music" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Book recommendation: Punished by Rewards by Alfhie Kohn.
Audible link: audibletrial.com/chickenmindnuggets
Show script: (may differ slightly from spoken word)
There is a song which goes, “I’ve got no more fucks to give, I’ve got no more fucks to give.” It’s fricken catchy and is the anthem of not giving a fuck. I wish I knew this song when I was on the ship in the Navy. There is a saying that the smartest person on the ship is the shitbag, and it’s true. You can work hard and get qualified, but that means there will be more expected of you and if you fuck up, the consequences are worse for you. You can get your EWSS pin and look super stellar in your uniform and be sailor of the quarter, but someone is gonna hate you and think you got there unethically. The shit bag who is unqualified, not squared away, and an overall piece of shit walks around not giving a fuck while carrying low expectations for themselves, and as long as they don’t do anything to really get them in trouble, they will leave the military with an honorable discharge. Now your morals may be like mine and we may say, “no I can’t do that, I need to work hard, it’s part of my work ethic,” but you probably also wished you could slack off and not have to worry about as much shit in your life. Let’s use the Janitor from the TV show Scrubs as an example. If you have never seen the show, pause this podcast and watch some clips of the janitor from Scrubs. The janitor gave no fucks and does the bare minimum or even less every episode while torturing JD. He pranks everyone and created alter ego’s to further fuck with the hospital staff. He made a knife wrench, an air band, fake stories about his life like how his wife only has a pointer finger on one hand and thumb pinky on the other. But…..he came to work every day, made realistic sense of the world and verbally expressed the hidden bullshit in conversations that everyone is to politely afraid to say out loud for fear of retribution, said what ever he wanted, pranked who ever he wanted, and was one of the most loveable characters on the show. The janitor, gave no fucks, and lived the least stressed life out of all the characters on the show. He made a conscious decision, to not care about a lot of things that we all stress over, but he came to work every day in uniform, and showed up where he needed to be. That was a TV show, but how distant is it from our own lives to see if we can’t be more janitor like? I don’t want you to get fired, but can you try an experiment on your self to not care about the fuckface two cubicles away from you who is not doing their job according to your standards… or do you NEED to try to balance the energy of the situation by trying to make him do his job according to the almighty YOU? Is this fuckhead the Janitor already? Do you think they go home with the same level of stress you do? Are you jealous?
Dr. Dacher Keltner is a psychologist who argues that the way we perceive power and how it affects each individuals character helps to shape the dynamics of the structure of one’s community. He stated: “Life is made up of patterns. Patterns of eating, thirst, sleep, and fight-or-flight are crucial to our individual survival; patterns of courtship, sex, attachment, conflict, play, creativity, family life, and collaboration are crucial to our collective survival. Wisdom is our ability to perceive these patterns and to shape them into coherent chapters within the longer narrative of our lives.”
Our perceptions of the patterns of power and the balance of it within all aspects of our lives help to determine the level of fucks we give to a situation. Your boss has a lot of power, so therefore more fucks. The customer service associate at the gas station is serving you, so therefore less fucks, but more power on your part. Both of these people have levels and balances of power within their lives and they give them different levels of fucks than you do.
Yes, you should give a fuck about your job and show up in your uniform just like the janitor and make yourself known. But, can you lose the amount of fucks you give to the outcome of a situation that you don’t control? Can the fucks you give instead be given towards dancing with that mop and broom instead of the guy in the cubicle behind you? Why care about them? Care about the world, but care about how many fucks you give because if you give them all away, “you’ll have no more fucks to give.” Great, now it’s in my head again.
If you have enjoyed this podcast, please follow me on twitter @mindchicken or visit chickenmindnuggets.com
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