In Which Boy Wonder Makes Me Sad

I feel like the subjects of Queen Elizabeth I who heard reports of a strange and marvelous land, full of exotic and monstrous animals. No doubt the unwashed hordes rushed down to the docks on the first rumor that the savage Indians were being taken off the boat to exhibit to Her Majesty.

Boy Wonder is my Indian. Exotic, strange, reportedly savage.

I always knew there were ruthless people out there, completely lacking in conscience, whose only drive is to do what they want to do.

I realize I have just described a sociopath. I think there are a lot of these in the business world and a lot of them are extremely successful.

Of course, Boy Wonder is charming. Most sociopaths are charming.

It may be that Boy Wonder was only funnin' me. I'm easy to play because I tend to believe what people tell me without going through the exhausting exercise of trying to work out the translation.

In return, I usually manage to say what I mean. Over the years, I have worked hard on not being blunt but instead being clear. My motives are simple: I want to keep my job. I want to be busy, doing work that is meaningful to me. I want to do well at my job.

Boy Wonder is lately on his own particular warpath. He has prodded me to get up and travel with him, so I do, without making any noise. He's right about most of the things he's ranting about. There are a few things I'm not so sure of.

I realized this morning that along with conscience goes compassion. If hapless Employee A working for Boy Wonder announced he had an aggressive and fatal form of cancer, I think I know what Boy Wonder's reaction would be. Publicly, he would be all sympathy. He would rant about how much it sucked. And then he would talk to HR about posting the guy's job and think how he could get Employee A out of the pipeline so work could flow on smoothly and without interruption.

Maybe I'm just being too girly and gooshy about this hypothetical (truly) situation. Maybe I'm wrong about what Boy Wonder's reaction would be.

But I think I'm right. And that makes me sad.