Oh, the Folly of Youth

"I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that." --Lloyd Dobler, Say Anything...

Wednesday at 7:00 AM I will be voluntarily unemployed for the second time in three months. My new job is quitting jobs! Seriously, this is NOT the place to work, at least not for me. I don't mind working hard--as I hope many of you would agree--nor do I mind pressure, or even having to wear a tie every day. I DO mind working for a company that willfully lies to clients, treats employees like cogs in a machine, and seems to have no guiding vision other than making money. I understand: The purpose of a business is to make money. Call me crazy, but life is too short to go into business solely for that reason, or to work for an employer whose only objective is to wring money from clients as quickly as possible while doing as little for them as possible.

And the boss (who reminded me of Marsellus Wallace [Ving Rhames] in Pulp Fiction , if that tells you anything) told us this afternoon we would be working Saturday at 9:00. Which happens to be when one person was planning to move into a new home, a second was expected in Minnesota to play rugby, and a third thought he would be spending the weekend with his family in Colorado because he commutes once a week--on Friday night, not Saturday--to his home there. An employer who A) doesn't know about these events in his employees' lives or B) doesn't care about them isn't the kind of person for whom I want to work. I'd rather be poor.

Which I am, except now I have a bunch of nice clothes that I bought for work. Maybe I should get a job as a bank teller. Seriously, if you know of any jobs--preferably not for soulless corporate entities--let me know. Today I proudly pull my Lloyd Dobler for a lifetime, but tomorrow I'm still going to need to eat.

One more thing. This experience makes me appreciate Split Rock Studios more than I ever did. I'll be lucky to find another place that fosters a friendly environment and cares about clients as much as that company.