I See the Light

Shiny baubles for the dark time!
I got this box of vintage Xmas tree decorations from the thrift store (of course). I've found this sort of thing in the trash, but in this case, they were priced. Two bucks.
Similar glass & wire, earring-like ornaments I found online are Czech.

"This type of ornaments comes from north Bohemia and was famous during the first half of the 20th century."
--Czech Christmas Ornaments, in blog Prague By Katy

Entertainment vs. Efficiency

I keep having frustrating conversations with Ass't Man:
he insists "everyone" does--or, should--value efficiency most highly at work.

I reply, But that's not what all our coworkers value most. They value, say, talking and laughing, and personal loyalty (or betrayal), more.

But I've been baffled too:
What do certain coworkers think they're doing; how are they interpreting our workplace?
I've had the hardest time understanding Big Boss, because he straddles class lines--coming from the streets, but working a lot with white, middle-class professionals.
I've got him wrong, and I've miscommunicated with him (and he with me), big time.

I just found and copied this chart of Hidden Class Rules for Ass't Man. He's another non-reader, though, so I don't know if he'll look at it.
I outlined in orange points AM and I've gotten stuck on.

From the article "Understanding and Working with Students and Adults from Poverty", by poverty/social class educator Ruby Payne.

This confirms what I've figured out: having a good time with coworkers is maybe the only job benefit you have in a poorly paid job that you didn't choose and don't care much about.
 Make sense that Entertainment wins out over Efficiency every time, in those circumstances.

(AM & I are middle-class white people who chose to be at the store, feeling we have a vocation for the work (though his call is quite different than mine).
Most of our  coworkers who came from generational poverty, however, are there because it's a job.)

And it all helps me understand Big Boss further.
This ties into his Christianity: "Destiny and fate govern. The notion of having choices is foreign".
That view is like BB telling me that the Holy Spirit brings the employees we need to the store.

Funny thing: that kinda works about as well as job interviews, which are unreliable indicators of how well a person will fit a job. See, ("Poor Predictors: Job Interviews Are Useless and Unfair"--Psychology Today, 2020.)

In other realms, though, the Holy Spirit is not cut out to be a retail manager.