Looking Good (2003)

I was on a roll that year. Goes back to my work ethic. Always hardworking; trying to help others. I was constantly told by coworkers, “dude, you’re making me look bad”. Of course, that was always from those who were looking to move up. Or simply lazy. All of a sudden, I’m in their way. Others felt differently. Always got along with those beside me who didn’t feel the same. As far as they were concerned, the more I did, and the faster I worked, the less they had to do. And they knew it wasn’t anything personal. I wasn’t trying to move up. But I, unknowingly, became a roadblock. Until I heard this quote: “I can’t make you look bad; only you can make you look bad”. Came in handy during political squabbles when confronted. Wrote a poem about it. Like to hear it? Here it goes:

Looking Good
2003

I get resentment everywhere I go
But it isn’t necessarily anyone’s fault
It’s because of the speed I work
My work ethic has a lot to do with it
I’ll admit
I don’t force my ways on others
Unless it’s something
For which I’m responsible
I only challenge others to keep up
But not outright
I challenge by doing
I get a lot done by how fast I work
But not too fast
Where accuracy is sacrificed
If that were the case
Errors would occur on a regular basis
Always does
When trying too hard to go too fast

I work at this speed
Because it comes naturally
Errors occur once in a while
(nobody’s perfect)
but are corrected as they occur
because of the attention-to-detail
“An error becomes a mistake,
when you refuse to correct it”
someone once said

Resentment?

Others think I work fast on purpose
To make them look bad
To which I only have this to say,
“Only you
Can make yourself look bad”.