Photo by Ben Fredericson (xjrlokix)

We all have many roles to play in life.  You may not only be a parent, but a child.  A subordinate, and also a supervisor.  A charitable person, but maybe a cheap bastard from time to time.  A loyal, hard-working employee, or a misanthropic blogger. ;-)  Each of these roles require us to don a mask, to help differentiate between the parts we play.

Most of the time, I’m an agreeable sort.  If I can help someone out, I will help them.  Most of the time.  But there are times when I have to “dumb it down”, and that requires another mask.  It’s my “regular guy” mask, the one that I wrote about in this post: Incognito.  Nobody likes a know-it-all.  So, I put on my regular guy mask and clam up.  People tend to get uneasy if there’s someone smarter among them.

Then there are the masks that I put on when I have to ream someone out.  One is irritated but civil, and the other is similar to Dave Schultz dropping his gloves without actually hitting anybody (I’m a Rangers fan and hate the Flyers, but Schultz was the ultimate badass).  I use the first when there’s a discrepancy on my electric bill.  The second one was used on my son the other day.  Kids need to fear something, especially sometimes-snotty teenagers.  They need, on occasion, to straighten up and fly right.  So if he thinks the old man is a little crazy, so much the better.  I repeat: I go nuts without hitting anyone!

Think of all of the different roles that you have to play in the course of a day.  At work, maybe you’re the person who every comes to for personal advice.  Or, you’re a sounding board for the disgruntled in your office.  Maybe you’re the authority in some particular field, who gets called into the middle of a meeting to help clarify an issue.  There are masks for each of these roles.

And then there are the masks that we hide behind.  These are our disguises.  Like my “regular guy” mask, they help keep people at arm’s length.  I don’t like to disclose everything about myself (which is why I don’t do Facebook), so part of me remains a mystery.  Just like Alfred (albeit a younger, sexier, female Alfred) is to Bruce Wayne/Batman, only my wife knows that I write this blog  (and she’ll kill me for comparing her to an elderly butler).  I don’t think my friends would get the whole idea, so that’s another mask that I hide behind: The Luddite.  When they ask a computer question, I feign ignorance.

So, what masks do you hide behind?  Let me know in the comments, as I’ll look forward to reading about them.  Until then, I remain:

Mysteriously yours,

The Corporate Barbarian

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