VICTORY.

My parents grew up in a small German farmtown in southern Minnesota. My dad is all German, my mom is all Irish. Before embarking on this journey, my mom had a lot of advice on how to deal with Germans. She kept repeating over and over, "Don't expect to get any compliments at work. That's not how Germans are. You can do an outstanding job on an assignment, but if you turn it in one minute late they won't say anything. Instead of saying 'thank you,' they'll ask why it was one minute late. I just don't want you to be surprised. Just don't expect many compliments... Okay?"

I've prevoiusly blogged about theories of motivation - I am the epitome of "achievement." I am motivated by being good at something. People like me are perfectionists who don't like working in groups. Once in awhile we can tolerate working with others- as long as they're also motivated by achievement. We like to get lots of feedback on our work and do well with increasing responsibility over time. It is easy to see why my mom was concerned about how I would do at work - being motivated in this way clashes with the classic view of Germans as stoic, efficient, non-effusive people. They don't show much emotion, either positive or negative.

I told her it was my sole mission this summer to get a genuine compliment from one of my bosses. Genuine in this case meaning unprompted; I didn't want to get a compliment by asking, "How did I do?" I wanted to perform at such a level that they'd have no choice but to say, "You are the most fantastic thing that has happened to this company since the invention of the internet."

Victory is mine.

Okay so he didn't say that I was the best thing since the internet, but Peter did say, "You have made my dream come true. This is awesome. Thank you so much, I think this will be really, really helpful."

Not only that, but I finally killed that damn fly that has been buzzing around my desk for the last two days. I don't have any food laying around so I don't know why, out of a room with twenty desks in it, the damn bug only flew around my desk. I think it might be because of my hair- bees often mistake me for a flower. I smacked the little bitch when it was sitting on my telephone and had to restrain myself from shouting for joy.

Victory.


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