Does kindness beget kindness? Not necessarily. Indeed, rarely so. I once thought that if I treated people with kindness, they would respond in kind. But life has taught me otherwise. Why persist in kindness then? A reasonable question. My view: because it’s the right thing to do. Because kindness beautifies an action. How others choose to …
No point forwarding me some controversy dominating Muslim social media. I don’t follow any of that stuff. Raising a family occupies me. Hard enough parenting two kids, let alone worrying about a diverse transnational community of two billion souls. I know that makes me a terribly compromised believer, but this was the lone diminishing sphere …
Everyone knows I’m a writer, not a speaker. Everyone. “If you can’t make yourself understood,” says my beloved, “write to him.” Yes, so even our kids get letters from me now. No great surprise. I even make my duas in writing.
One thing I’ve learned in life is that you should never judge another until you’ve walked in their shoes. Before we had children, I said many noble things about raising a family. But they were all founded on complete ignorance and informed by naïve idealism. I judged men in unimaginably hard situations for walking out …
Today, I set my status to Do not disturb. I set up an automatic reply to explain I am focusing on a delivery this week. I even announced my intentions on the team chat. But it didn’t make any difference. All day long, my colleagues still pinged me and flooded my inbox, seeking guidance on …
I never finish anything, impulsively jumping from one thing to another instead. It’s hard to deal with this head of mine. So much noise.
Somebody should talk to HR to see if “competence” can be made a mandatory prerequisite for employment.
I read back to myself some of what I’ve written and think to myself, “Actually, this is pretty good.” Then I turn a page and read another passage, and I’m shaking my head. “This is just crap.” On balance, the bad outweighs the good — but I no longer have the inclination to polish a …
It’s funny, but I’ve become those I once decried. Roles have reversed, responses switched. Now I am the protective ogre, worried about the intentions of the unknown characters in our children’s midst. I’m the one warning them about lurking dangers, and the importance of focusing diligently on the task at hand for the sake of …
Whenever I’m given a specification that ignores every piece of advice once offered, I find myself with a psychological block, which prevents me from delivering the work. The job in hand is probably quite simple. In normal circumstances, certainly not beyond me. But because it has been specified with no real consideration of the access …
I spend months and years on a project I believe in. I invest all of my emotional energy in striving for perfection. This time, I’ll do it right. But as soon as it’s completed, the doubts set in. Soon enough, I can’t stand the sight of it. Every time I reopen it, I slam it …
It occurs to me: if I had been more complete in myself, I would have been a much better dad. But I wasn’t. Most of my peers knew exactly where they were going aged eighteen, if not earlier. University was just a means of getting there. Me? I hadn’t a clue. And nor for years …
If you’re a manager and you don’t like your colleagues, team, or job — you’re lucky, you can quit. But being a parent: the one job you’re stuck with, even when you feel like shouting, “I resign!” It’s a job without perks. You’re always on duty, working antisocial hours, for zero pay. Your appraisal comes …
The tech support conundrums of my nonagenarian neighbour increasingly flummox me completely. He does keep me on my toes.
I regret ever touching this thing. I regret responding when they said this will just be an interim solution. I should have said, “Look, if externals quoted you £80K for the job, how on earth do you think I’m going to be able to help you?” Of course, the external agency wanted you to pay …
