‘That’s not my job.’
We’ve heard it a million times.
It might have been from a department here on campus. It might have been from a professor or even a resident assistant. It might have been from the guy at Subway or the waitress at Denny’s.
For some of you, it could have been the bartender at any of the many clubs in Ybor or on Channelside.
‘That’s not my job.” No four words frustrate me more than that cop-out answer.
Sometimes we get lucky and get an apology’mdash;but not often.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard those words and wanted to say, ‘Well, I’m glad you get paid for nothing.”
But I’m far too polite for that and usually follow up with, ‘Whom can I speak to about this?’
An assistant in a department here on campus used that horrible phrase. I was looking for a few answers regarding some important academic business.
After going to three different offices and being assured that this office was, in fact, exactly where I needed to be, I was shocked to hear an employee tell me, ‘I can’t help you with that. It’s not my job.’
Now, I’m quite sure it was this individual’s job to provide me with the information I was looking for, but perhaps they just weren’t in the mood to speak with any more students.
Perhaps they forget the answers and thought refusing me information was a better option to giving me the name of someone who might actually be able to help me.
It doesn’t just happen in offices, it happens all over campus, in classrooms and in student organizations.
How many times have we been told by an officer of a group we are involved in that something just isn’t their job (which is just the easy way of saying, ‘I’m far too lazy to do anything that is not specifically listed in my job description and will continue to make more work for you and the rest of those involved by refusing to help you’)?
The not-my-job mentality that we have all become so accustomed to is truly just a mark of complacency and idleness that seems to define our generation.
More and more people want to do less and less work, wasting away hours a day on Facebook or texting while they are on the clock when there is good work to be done; good work that probably just doesn’t fall under the job description.
If everyone made a little extra effort to make ‘it’ his or her job, so much could get accomplished.
Students would be far happier leaving the various offices of the university, dealing with schedules or financial aid.
Students would feel valued and invested in while in the classroom.
Students would be encouraged to participate in activities, where peer leaders took on a little extra that ‘wasn’t their job.’
Next time you are compelled to say, ‘That’s not my job,’ consider how you can make it your job.
Kadie Hayward may be reached at khayward@ut.edu.
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