Boys Just Wanna Have Fun

When I started watching the business-based drama Succession, I immediately identified with the character of Roman Roy. While the other characters screamed and freaked out about business dealings and catastrophes, Roman was gratified by making smart-@$$ sarcastic comments and ridiculing everyone and everything.

I absolutely loved Roman. His sharp wit was outrageous. He was a guy who was not afraid to test the boundaries as he spoke hilarious truth to power. He could spot the ridiculous aspects of pompous business people and cut them down to size. He saw the humor in even the most serious business situations and verbalized it. He had a low tolerance for bull$h!t and called it out repeatedly.

And I identified with Roman because I did the same things my entire career. I cracked jokes during meetings. I made fun of bosses. I pointed out the absurdity of company motivational seminars and horse-$h!t  strategy. I was always joking and kidding people even during serious meetings. And I called out that bull$h!t. Sure, many of my comments were inappropriate, but I am still proud that I was never called into HR for anything I said. Of course, if I said those same things in today's hyper-sensitive environment, I would be fired. And by fired, I mean they would bound and gag me, take me behind the building, and burn me at the stake – maybe as part of the company fire extinguisher training! 

But then, as the television series progressed, I noticed that because of Roman's sarcastic attitude, he was not taken seriously when it came to important business matters. It was as if the other characters assumed that he couldn't have any corporate smarts because he was always cracking sarcastic jokes. And then the shovel smacked me in the face – I was watching a version of my own business career played out on my big-screen television.

My career was not a failure, but on paper, it appears, until my last position, that I failed to reach my business potential. Throughout my career, I was not given the opportunity to advance, and many of my best ideas were ignored. I was promoted only once and managed just four employees total – and one of them hated me. To be fair, she hated everyone, including herself, but my final resume screams underachievement.

Now I had other things working against me. Still, by watching Succession, I came to the conclusion that my career growth was hindered by my sarcastic sense of humor. Naturally, I began to regret my actions. If only I could have kept my mouth shut. I should have concentrated on my career advancement instead of cracking all those funny jokes.

I was still feeling somewhat despondent about this until the next time I saw my grandson. He sees me and immediately gets that ornery look in his eye. I can instantly recognize that look because I have been making that face my entire life. I imagine his brain thinking: Hey, it's the big goofy kid who only cares about having fun. It's time to laugh and get into trouble. And already Little Donnie (not his real name) has shown a propensity for having fun when you are not supposed to and getting into trouble with his mouth.

For example:

Recently, two-and-a-half-year-old Little Donnie was promoted to a new area at daycare. A ball went over the five-foot fence surrounding the play area on his first day there. No problem! Little Donnie is an excellent climber and easily scaled the fence to retrieve the ball.

The daycare staff was not amused by this at all. They hauled Little Donnie into the director's office and sternly told him: "You can't do that!" Now, of course, we understand the context of this statement because we are adults. However, Little Donnie thought they were questioning his ability to climb the wall, so he explained to them in detail how to climb over a fence. Now, while I find that laugh-out-loud amusing, the daycare people thought he was being a smart-@$$ and got fizzed. So fizzed, that they called my daughter to report her son's terrible behavior and attitude. My daughter’s reaction? – “Meh” – because she is my daughter, and she understands her son.

It’s a good thing the daycare didn’t call me to complain about Little Donnie’s behavior because after realizing their error, I would have replied: For people who are supposed to be skilled in child care, you don’t communicate with little kids too well, do ya?” And it’s comments just like that which resulted in me reporting to bosses like Mr. Dingleshitz for most of my career.

So, after spending time with my grandson, I realized that I cracked those jokes and mouthed off because that's how I'm wired. It's not an excuse, but I was born this way, and there is no way to change it.

I finally flourished at the final job of my career. And that's because the people there surely thought: Don is a goofball, doesn't take things seriously enough, and sometimes makes inappropriate jokes – but he is darn good at what he does. So we will laugh at him, laugh with him, and let Don be Don. I love these people!

Many of my colleagues over my career advanced further, got promotions, and made more money than I did, but nobody, and I mean nobody, had more fun than me. And because that's what I'm about, my business career was truly a success.

I get to work when the sun is bright

The boss man says, “When you gonna start acting right?”

Oh boss man dude, I’m not the usual one

And boys, they wanna have fun

Oh boys just wanna have fun