Being too good for your own good!!!

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Here I am again, at that point in life where I reflect on what I have done and then think about what I am going to do next. Just yesterday, while waiting for my wife to get ready for our outing, I was channel surfing when I chanced upon the movie "Righteous Kill". The movie was on for a while already. And I happen to be watching the portion where Robert De Niro was sitting on the subway, reflecting on his session with the department Therapist. "Our job is keeping 99% of the population safe from the other 1%. The problem is that we have to spend half our lives with that 1%. And the better we do that job, the less the other 99% think they need us." That last sentence struck a cord with me! Just this morning, when I was in the office, something happened that made me think back to what De Niro's character said! "And the better we do that job, the less the other 99% think they need us." Most of us, when we go to work, we strive to be the best in whatever we are doing to earn our keep. And sometimes, when we are so good at doing what we are doing, it becomes transparent(aka taken for granted) to the people who uses our services. Take for example, the office cleaner. We have a very efficient office cleaning auntie that is so good at her job, I never have to worry about my trash can being full, or the coffee machine being empty whenever I throw something or get a cuppa from the pantry. But has it ever occurred to you that there is someone emptying your trash or refilling the coffee machine every day? Or the System Administrator who is in-charge of maintaining the email system in your office. You never really had any problem retrieving your mails, sending your mails or archiving them for retrieval later. The only time you ever remember that there is someone taking care to ensure the mail services are up is when you hit the "SEND" button and nothing happens. Otherwise, you never would have bothered to acknowledge that there is some one taking care of the system to ensure that you get your mail sent/received ALL the time! Which brings me back to what I wanted to say earlier... I have become so good at maintaining the services of my job, that when it comes to recognition, promotions, remunerations and rewards, I get forgotten that I am good at doing my job and no one ever has to have the inconveniences of having a service down period during my watch. But when a problem occurs, people remembers that I am in charge of the said problematic services and tags the problem as if it is my fault (even when it is not). Exactly like what De Niro's character said! "And the better we do that job, the less the other 99% think they need us." Maybe is it just the career burnt out I am feeling. Maybe it is something more. I feel so tired at times when things like that happen! And even when I am fuming my pants off, I still have to put up a mask to the people around me that I am happy with my job! Sigh~~~~!