who amongst us hasn't complained about our job?the overbearing boss, the whingeing colleagues, the unreasonable expectations...you know, everybody at every job, ever.
those days are over.
those of us still fortunate enough to have a job should be standing over it protectively, tending to it like it's the last, flickering warmth of an arctic winter campfire. if it goes out, there's a fair chance they find us late next summer, frozen in place, cell phone in hand, forever dialing a search consultant who never picks up.
have you paid attention to the unemployment numbers for the last several months? i don't want to alarm you, but they're alarming. in california ("the world's 6th, no 7th, no 8th-largest economy!"), the rate hit 10.1% in january.
first, let's have a moment of sincere compassion for the millions of americans standing in line at the unemployment office. thank you. second, let's acknowledge that all of them right now would shove you down the nearest staircase to have the job you're complaining about.
it's not that they're not nice people; they'd feel bad for you as you lay stunned at the bottom of the stairs. but it's the compassion of the lion for the hyena slinking away from the zebra carcass. "sorry, please understand that i'd prefer to share, but if you get close enough i'll kill and eat you, too."
the upside is, grownups are back in charge, and they're actually taking steps to correct a dismal, deteriorating economic situation. the downside is, there's no telling if those steps will work, or how long it'll be before they do. there's nothing like ambiguity under duress to make people feel good about spending money.
"what do you think, dear, should we buy a bigger house, or, say, food for the children?"
"i don't know, hon. i've had my eye on a nice american-made car for awhile now. but maybe we should get some healthcare coverage instead."
and retirement? that's a quaint, pre-meltdown mindset. have you looked at your 401(k) recently? forget about retirement.
"...there is no meaning to retirement anymore. We are shifting from lifetime pensions to lifetime work. It's the end of retirement." -- some economics professor
does the lion retire? sure, when it wants to stop eating. and what happens to the shark when it stops swimming? it sinks to the bottom. countless millions of responsible, productive people who planned and saved for decades are now facing the same relationship with their retirement. go ahead, their bankers say. we'll be happy to take that house back, thanks. oh, and we're closing all your credit lines, too. have a nice day.
the takeaway here seems to be that banks are cold, the arctic winter is cold, and in hard times, the fittest survive. also that you don't hear the shark complain about snarfing down really fresh ahi tuna.
and this: no matter how unloveable the job might be, if you have one, love it. or fake it, convincingly. if you don't, there's a whole lot of people out there who will.
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