Tuesday, May 2, 2017

I Can't Even

I Can't Even...

… Commitment



This is going to be short and salty as I had a whole different article planned for this week. It was going to be a wonderful piece about invitations, and special occasions, and how not so snub people... but then I got terribly distracted by something that has left me quite angered and I need to vent about it. Luckily for me, you people keep reading this week after week and you now get to hear my rant. Congratulations, you now know how Trent feels.

I run a pretty good business. I am good to my employees. Really, they are like my family and I toe a very careful line between treating them like it and still running a successful business. We are still in a building phase here at Alchimia Lupinaar and I have a core group of people who have been helping me tremendously in that endeavor. Today, two of them left for 'greener pastures'. These are people I counted on and they just abandoned me? Oh, dear reader, I am beyond upset!


Not only did I depend on them, but they once depended on me as well. I put work into them. I know that sounds terrible, but I did. They came to me in need of gainful employment and a place to stay. They were new to the Realms, and completely unskilled in anything I could possibly need in an employee. So I trained them. They took my knowledge that I could have imparted to others, but they convinced me that passing it on to them was better for my business in the long term because they had proven themselves loyal. Well, apparently I'm the fool for buying into that hogwash.

So today's lesson is on loyalty. Mr. Webster describes being “loyal” as “unswerving in allegiance”. Unswerving. I suppose you plebs need an definition for that too. Well, ask Mr. Webster yourself. I'm too busy channeling my seething anger into this instead of at the people I am angry at. My therapist says that's unhealthy. I say maybe he should mind his own bees. (No really, he's also a beekeeper).

Loyalty does not come and go. You can't just uncommit when things get hard, or something better comes along. “But Zarine, you left Blackwood...” Yes, I did. But I did it using the proper channels and made sure that I made peace with the proper people. I did not just pick up and leave without nary a word save for behind people's backs. I was upfront, made sure that we were all on the same page and that no one's feelings were hurt. No one wants to see a King cry. It's quite ugly I tell you.

Honor your commitments, or no one will honor you. If you can no longer observe your obligation, disengage from it in a respectful manner. The person to whom your are beholden has feelings and you should try to treat them with at least a modicum of deference. Be wary of other's loyalties, for they are not always what they seem. Don't put all of your eggs in one basket, because one day you may find that basket on someone else's doorstep.

See you next Tuesday.



Zarine is the proprietor and Madam at Alchimia Lupanar, a magic marshal approved practitioner of medicine, an award winning author, and has 36 years of experience in giving her unsolicited opinion.