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    These days there are all kinds of new disorders popping up – Wii game injuries, electromagnetic hypersensitivity disorder, to name a couple.   I propose a new one – Big Box Syndrome.  Big Box Syndrome is a serious health risk for the drones who must work at one of the thousands of big box stores littering nearly every landscape.   

    What are the symptoms of Big Box Syndrome?   Well, they are not so different from many illnesses.    Depression and fatigue are the main symptoms.   Headaches are certainly a factor.   Your doctor will no doubt think you have some chemical imbalance in your brain and prescribe an anti-depressant. 

    How do I know so much about Big Box Syndrome?   I used to run my own business, but then made the mistake of getting a job at a Big Box in the midst of some major life changes.   I knew I would have to make compromises and learn to function within corporate policy, but I really had no idea what I was getting myself into.  There are so many differences, and coping with these differences can be real headache.  Literally.

 What are the differences?

•  The small business owner is mentally stimulated by the challenges that come his way.   He must come up with creative and realistic solutions to please his customers.   This is what keeps them coming back.   The corporate middle management (henceforth referred to as “the drone”) must work within strictly defined corporate parameters, all the while taking the blame for unhappy customers both from above and from the customer’s point of view.
  

• The small business owner is energized by his dynamic environment, always seeking new ways to succeed in his market, or even in finding new markets.   He can measure his success when he goes to the bank at the end of the day.  The drone must concentrate on carrying out the often ill-conceived plans of his superiors, and can only measure his success on whether his bosses are happy.  Often the drone feels a helplessness, and his energy is sapped by the negativity around him.
  

• The small business owner has the flexibility to react immediately to changes in his market.   He can increase or decrease supply, creatively market products in ways he knows will appeal to his customers, and do all these things quickly, since he does not have to wait for a decision from the higher ups in his company.  The drone can only do as he is told, and hope for the best.   When that doesn’t happen, he then takes the blame for company failure. 

• There will always be people out there that want only to cause trouble.  The small business owner is free to tell them to take their business elsewhere.   Why does he need the troublemaker when he has a hundred other happy customers?   The drone must try to appease the troublemaker, due to America’s corporate mantra that the customer is always right.
  

• The small business owner is free to spend his time on activities that generate revenue, which is his primary purpose for being in business.   The drone is required to spend copious amounts of  time on meetings and endless communications of data to his superiors.   He must waste time talking about work instead of actually doing it.   Then he must defend himself when asked why he didn’t get work done.
  

• The small business owner gets up looking forward to the day ahead and seeing what it will bring.   The drone gets up counting the days until his next day off or his next vacation.  

 

    The drone’s environment is set up to make him feel that his efforts are never good enough, and he is not allowed to have the satisfaction of a job well done.   On the rare occasion that he is, it is not allowed to last very long.   He is at the mercy of his superiors and feels no control over his destiny.  The corporation needs this feeling of helplessness in its drones so that they do not dare wake up, look around, and realize that things don’t have to be this way.   The corporate entity wants them to plod along, always striving, never achieving.

    I have been amazed at the problems that a Big Box store continually wastes time on, when the answer is staring them in the face.   They cannot deal with the problems because the answer goes against corporate policy.  

    What is the result of all this?    Big Box Syndrome!   Big box syndrome is characterized by a feeling of hopelessness and inadequacy, the very epitome of depression.   This is multiplied thousands of times over in our business community that is slowly being taken over by Big Box Mania.   Big Box Syndrome is its own special brand of depression.   It is insidious and people caught up in it think it is just the way life is supposed to be, because they must subsist on a diet of corporate propaganda.    Perhaps Big Boxes should have a special tax on them to pay for the mental health problems they are causing to be almost epidemic.   It has been an eye-opening experience for me to hear how many people casually mention that they are on anti-depressants.   At least half the people I work with.   There is something wrong there and people need to wake up and take control of their lives. 

    Can this be stopped?   It certainly can be stopped, but people have to start taking responsibility for themselves, and not be duped by “the man.”  For those that feel self employment is risky, just look around today at all the people who devoted years of indentured servitude to their corporation, only to be laid off when times got tough.  We are conditioned from an early age to want the security of that regular paycheck.   The problem is that even when you are getting it, the cost of that paycheck is a lot higher than most people realize.   And of course now people are finding out that it isn’t even so secure.  

     So, how about me?  I have already made the decision to leave.   This job is not worth risking my well-being.   Currently, I am getting some side businesses going and doing some market research.    I have even drafted an exit strategy.    Just doing this has increased my happiness more than you can imagine, because now I have hope.  I know that my current situation is not permanent.  The answer is really easy – you just have to Think Outside the Box!