Company Man & School

 Reading the "Company Man" made me rethink how glorified work culture is when it in reality can be really damaging to a person. When you're an ideal employee, you're seen as hardworking, responsible, dedicated, and financially stable. To both your boss, and your peers. But as the Company Man progressed in story, the idea of working so hard until your death date made it uncomfortable to read. It also made me realize how easy it is to get wrapped into the corporate world, and only reward yourself based on your career and work ethic. This story also was similar to how students will value themselves based off how  high their GPA is and how prestigious their extracurriculars are. Like The Company Man, work ethic and academic success is commonly a way for people to measure their worth. 

The irony of Phil being respected at work, but his personal life suffering made me think about how this case can be relatable for many students spending all their time studying and stressing because on the outside it looks successful and rewarding but it can feel exhausting and isolating. The irony in the ending of Phil being replaced immediately made me think of how temporary academic validation and recognition is. Even if a student got one B, the work and effort put in for all the other A's gets undermined because of that one "mistake". Overall, both the work place and school reward constant achievement without considering the repercussions of what that does to an individual.

This passage was a good reminder how work ethic and your goals should not come at the expense of your health or identity, whether in a corporate office or a classroom.