I awoke yesterday morning to find myself in an unusual situation: unemployment. Friday afternoon I became the latest in a LONG line of Americans to lose their job due to cutbacks blamed on "the economy".
The Economy has been personified to such an extent that it has become the scapegoat for nearly any unfortunate circumstance.
Gas prices too high? It's the Economy. Underwater on your mortgage? It's that pesky Economy. Forced to switch to store-brand groceries? Man, the Economy is really out to get us.
Obviously the Economy is not some sentient mastermind hell-bent on destroying the lives of countless families and businesses. Its current iteration is the mutated offspring of widespread ignorance, incompetence, and malice prevalent throughout 1% and 99% alike. Most people don't lose their job as a direct result of this amoebic disruptor. From what I've seen, most job loses are the result of a company's inability and/or unwillingness to adapt to new parameters in the marketplace. I suspect this was the culprit in my case.
But I hold no grudge. I don't have a list of people I curse every night before I fall asleep. And I certainly do not wish further hardships on my former employer. Additional complications would only serve to hurt innocent bit players uninvolved in creating the hardships, with no recourse to change them.
Instead, I have found a long-forgotten inner-tranquillity. I have smiled more in the last day and half than I did in the previous month and a half. Discussing Lego Star Wars strategies with my son is the most important event on my daily agenda. I feel as if I am free to choose nearly any path I desire.
The obvious first thought would be to find another PC support position. However, I am still quite interested in continuing my web design self-education. Or maybe I want to focus on something entirely different. But even more than that I want to find a place where I am more than my job title. That statement may seem a bit cliché, but I think it's incredibly important.
Imagine a job where you are free to explore different areas of the business, seeking knowledge and collaboration from many different types of people with just as many different skill sets. How much more efficient would a company become if they began to seek input from all levels of the workforce? Crunching numbers in a boardroom to determine peak profit margin may be one tactic. But seeking input from an average warehouse worker may yield even greater benefits for laborer and boardmember alike.
It would be foolish to holdout for an available job at a company fully utilizing this approach. But finding a place that isn't afraid to hear unconventional ideas from unconventional places would be amazing.
So the job hunt begins. But not for a little while. After all, my son's spring break is next week. And a bit of father/son time may be exactly the thing I need to point me in the right direction.