About Work

Post 63:

            I’m not a unique snowflake, and if I ever get caught out saying I am, full rights to punch me in the face. I want to talk about work, but before I start, let me say that I am as inclined toward languishing in a torpid trance as the next person. Probably more so.

            So there’s that.

            But work is a reality. And a good. I try to follow a lot of foreign and domestic newspapers, check in on the state of things, and I’m often disheartened by tales of people all over the world that just want a frigging job and can’t find one. As a single dude that has been without work I can’t imagine what that’s like when people are depending on you. Truly terrible, soul-stealing stuff.

            It’s going on all over the place. Suppose it always has, I’m not doing the chicken-little bit here, but the desperation to find a wage seems more prevalent these days. I know the 70’s sucked, but I wasn’t around then, so whatever. I do the best I can with the information I have.

            I was on the YouTube the other day and heard tell of a guy that had been at finding a job for three years. Schooling, skills, technical acumen, all the right stuff, but nothing. This is in another country, a place with a great and proud history. Broke my heart. He’s looking for answers, trying to understand.

            I’d like to get political here, but I won’t. My interest is in the YouTube story and the millions of people with stories just like his. The pain and fear, the self-resentment—I’ve experienced a bit of that, had to hustle or sleep on a couch or consider abandoning my goals—but like everything else, I know some that have had it worse, some easier. Let me add: My hard times have unequivocally been brought on by my choices to take risks in life. Risks can be viewed two ways. They’re either intrepid or stupid, and generally the outcome forms the basis for the judgment. The ten-thousand dudes that tried to fly over the course of human history were idiots. The Wright Brothers: Genius! Point is, whether I make it or not, I chose to strap on some wings and leap. Don’t weep over my crash if one day it’s one I can’t walk away from.

            But what about the normal person that made prudent choices and things still suck ass? I’m not a big believer in fair and everybody gets a trophy, but if you did the work to make the team, you should get a chance to play and contribute. That’s all. I hope to one day employ people. I know, it sounds weird, but I think more people should want to be a boss, and a good one. It means whatever you’re doing is profitable, and it means you’re giving someone a chance to make a living. That’s a story I can imagine telling one day, though it didn’t even seem like a possibility years ago when I was donating bodily fluids for the next meal.

            Sorry, that last part was gross. But sometimes reality is. Keep fighting.

            See you after.