The messenger everyone loves to hate

It is easy to hate Sean Spicer. He was the public face of an administration that tore families apart, undid years of progress, and has the potential to damage the United States in ways never before imagined.

Many people are not willing to forgive Sean Spicer. Or even allow him the dignity and necessity of having a job at all, anywhere. Many people have argued that no decent person should ever employ him again.

But is that all there is to him? Is he truly the epitome of everything wrong with our country today? Or is there more to this story? And is it worth at least considering?

I would humbly suggest it is. You may grit your teeth through this story, but for the sake of reasonableness and understanding, please bear with me.

At some point, we have all worked for a boss we hated. Or maybe their boss was a terrible person. Or the executive team at the top of the company had no morals and incredible greed. The world is full of these kinds of people, and the odds that you work for someone like this at some point in the ranks above you is great. Maybe they shamelessly cheat on their significant others. Maybe they berate their employees. Maybe they haven’t paid you fairly or for time you worked, coming up with an excuse that burned you to your very core. Maybe they force you to work unrelenting overtime or exploit unpaid ‘interns’ for free labor. Or God forbid they sexually harassed you or worse.

How many of you took that job knowing your boss was greedy or manipulative or cruel? Considering the information that has come out about the working conditions at Amazon in the last several years, everyone working at Amazon would fall into that category. As would millions of other Americans. Wells Fargo. Equifax. Uber. Hobby Lobby. Any of the other companies, large and small, with leaders and cultures that foster sexism and hatred and greed.

How many of you refused to take the job? Probably some. Of the ones that did take it, how many of you quit immediately after the first unacceptable incident, walked out the door, refusing to even take your last paycheck from your corrupt former employer? Probably not many. Many of you still work for companies just like these to this day. Companies that you know are run by morally lacking people.

There are many reasons you probably took that job. And many reasons you haven’t yet quit. You may have needed the money. Or maybe it was your dream job that you spent many years working to achieve, and you were willing to excuse some jerk executives behavior because you had earned your position and you were not willing to walk away from your dream for them or anyone. Not after working so hard to get there. And that is reasonable and fair. Why should you be judged harshly because some fat cat exec is an asshole?

Let’s take a short stroll through time and see where Sean Spicer came from.

Sean Spicer is a Republican. And in today’s society, that is nearly a death sentence by itself.

From there, he advanced into politics and worked under the Bush administration and in numerous positions in the RNC, and did a fantastic job. Until Donald Trump became president, Sean Spicer did his job with professionalism and dedication. He even stood up and spoke out against Trump many times. He had a good reputation and had worked his entire career, 17 years, to be in the position he found himself in at the RNC, with Donald Trump on the verge of becoming president.

It was unfortunate timing, but this was the opportunity he had been working for for many years. And his opportunity came when the RNC asked him to accompany their new candidate on the campaign trail and help out. Which he did with professionalism and skill.

Now, the office of the president turns over every 4–8 years. A lot can change in that time. This was a literal once in a lifetime opportunity. In 4–8 years, he would almost certainly not be in the same position. Unfortunately Sean Spicer’s hard work, service to his country, and professionalism, had finally brought him to the right place, just at the wrong time.

This is the decision you must truly consider now. If you worked for 17 years with professionalism, honor, and dedication to finally be in a position in which you could seize the opportunity to have the best job in your career, and more than that, you knew you would never have the opportunity again, in his case it was Press Secretary for the United States of America, would you give it up because your boss was a jerk? Or a sexist? Or a racist?

I know right now you are tempted to say ‘Of course!’. But if you turn off the news and close Twitter, and think about anything you have dedicated 17+ years of your life to achieving, and you had finally reached the best career opportunity you could possibly have hoped for, who would you give it up for? Trump? Probably not. If you are truly honest with yourself. It’s easy to lie to the internet. But in your heart, you know the answer is that you would seize that opportunity with both hands and tell the world to screw off.

You don’t have to forgive him. But the least you could do is understand the position he was in, and if you are honest with yourself, you might not hate him quite so much.

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