New series at the Capitalist: The Top 100 Movie Quotes of all time for HR Pros.  In no special order, I break down the 100 movie quotes that resonate most for me as a career HR pro.  Some will be funny, some will be serious... Some will tug at your heart like when the Fox voice-over guy said, "Tonight - a very special episode of 90210"... You get the vibe... I'll do it countdown-style like they're ranked, but let's face it - they're ALL special..

# 94: "I am Jack's complete lack of surprise"...

--Narrator from Fight Club

Fight Club.  One of my favorite movies of all time.  What did you expect here for a quote from that classic?  "The first rule of fight club is?"  Maybe later...

For now, we're keeping it highbrow.  In Fight Club, the narrator (played by Ed Norton) is reading a book that is written as if the body parts and organs of a subject (named Jack) are speaking as to what they do and their general functionality in the human body.

Articles that the unnamed narrator discovers as he reads the voiceover in Fight Club (these are chapters in the book he's reading): 

I Am Jack's Medulla Oblongata 
I Am Jill's Nipple 
I Am Jack's Colon 

As you might expect, the narrator/reader takes license with this format and starts applying chapter titles to what he experiences in life.  

Variations that the unnamed narrator creates: 

I Am Jack's Raging Bile Duct 
I Am Jack's Cold Sweat 
I Am Jack's Inflamed Sense of Rejection 
I Am Jack's Smirking Revenge 
I Am Jack's Broken Heart

And my personal favorite:  "I Am Jack's Complete Lack of Surprise".... 

Why is that perfect for an HR pro?  If you've been in the game a decade, when's the last time you were truly surprised by human behavior?  You've seen too much, been disappointed too often by reactions in the workplace that are all too human.

As a result, you're a bit jaded.  It's OK, that's what happens when you deal with the humanity day in and day out.  You cope.  You evolve.

But there's no reason to be sad about it all.  Instead, you should create references that keep you sane. A way to tip your hat to the total insanity around you regarding human behavior and your role as an actor/cop in that insanity.

Someone commits a crime of judgment or tries to hurt someone in the workplace?  Others are shocked?

You:  "I am Jack's complete lack of surprise"..  The perfect insider reference to the fact that you've seen it all and it's impossible to shock you.