Stone Lantern

My current favourite nickname is Shogun.  Thanks to the internet, I didn’t need to wait for anyone else to start calling me a cool nickname, I just got to pick one. In the old days, we had nicknames like Lefty, Fatty or Cockroach. Now its all Desert Scourge and Flameboy.  Or rather Flameboy763 and DezzertsCorj.  I suppose that makes ‘Shogun’ a screen name, but this is the first place I have ever used it on the web.  In truth, I just started calling myself that one day and no one but the Japanese challenged me on it.

The screen names I have picked for myself include Ascii King, a dual reference to my digital prowess. You look like you need a good Ascii King. Say it out loud and it makes more sense. I’ve also been called Darth Jennifer for a brief and horrible time in my life due to the losing of a game of skill.  My favourite moniker, by far, however was High Lord of the LAN.

I love the saddest eagle the most!

I provide computer and network support for a large organization and for many years, “High Lord of the LAN” was listed as my job title in my email signature.  It was silly and fun.  A few of my co-workers from around the province even referred to me as “High Lord” once in awhile and people who didn’t know me always got a chuckle out of it.

Except one guy.

One of our co-workers was temporarily filling in for the boss for three months. During that time, he asked me to remove my joke title and put my proper one in.  He made one fatal mistake, though. He asked me over email so I was able to ignore him. He sent subsequent email requests with the ‘notify recipient’ setting turned on.  Apparently no one told him I was a tech guy.

He was persistent, however and finally he managed to corner me on the phone and ask directly.  Initiate clever plan #2.  Since he was only a temporary boss I decided to agree and then just wait him out.  Well, he was not only persistent, but thorough as well. He would check my emails regularly and ask why I hadn’t changed it yet. I very quickly ran out of lame excuses and had to admit I just didn’t want to change it.

He insisted.

Initiate clever plan #3. Actually, since clever plan #2 wasn’t all that clever, clever plan #3 was still technically clever plan #2.  Anyway, I asked if I could bring it to his boss’ attention. He thought that was a good idea.

It was not a good idea.

Any halfway decent manager can tell you ahead of time that the boss’ boss backed him up, not me. He very politely explained to me that the title could cause confusion and didn’t seem very professional. Well, I guess I did once receive an email asking me what my actual job title was. That was only one email in three years, though and I had received many more in that time complimenting me on my sense of humour. And besides, I just really, really liked that title and didn’t want to change it.

Initiate clever plan #2 (again(again)).

Do what I am told. Pout about it.

I changed it and I was pretty upset for a while. I hadn’t been treated unfairly. I hadn’t been treated rudely. I had actually been treated patiently and given a lot of rope. I felt I had been treated unfairly. I felt their logic was flawed and their attitudes too conservative. I felt their request was made three years too late.

I was wrong.

When you take a job in a professional environment, you are not only agreeing to provide a service for your pay, but also to act within the norms of the culture.  They are paying my salary and it is perfectly acceptable for them to make reasonable demands on me.  So, while I liked my joke title, I should not be investing so much of my identity into something that has so little impact on the profitability of the company.

My happiness is not a reason for me to resist changes that might make the company better.  My employer doesn’t begrudge my happiness and has many initiatives in place to help make my job more enjoyable. Their consideration for my well being is given with the understanding that I will be considerate of their needs as well.

So, I’ve changed my title some time ago. It hasn’t seemed to improve the productivity of the office or my personal efficiency. It hasn’t hurt it either and it hasn’t hurt me.  Now I just drop hints that I am a ninja.

On that note, if some guy in banded mail and wearing a katana shows up asking about me, tell him the Shogun is out.

What I hope you’ve learned from this blog today is that change is good, the will to change is better and spare change is best.