Wednesday 18/02/09

As I get older and more experienced in the ways of the world I’ve started to find that nobody really knows what they’re doing and that most of us are just blundering and bullshitting our way through life, whether personally or professionally. Because it’s such a cack-handed way of going about things this can have serious repercussions, such as the current financial predicament everyone is suffering from. The fact that a whole bunch of people, who presumably saw that nobody knows what they’re doing, have supposedly been defrauding us all via the banking system over the last few years suggests as much.

Partly as a result of this incompetence I was made redundant towards the end of last year. It was a bit of a bugger as finding work is difficult at the best of times (it was enough trouble just getting the job in the first place) let alone when Christmas is approaching and the biggest recession in decades is about to kick off. It’s also a kick in the nuts, emotionally, and it’s a rather depressing experience when you feel as though you’re completely dispensable. This sort of worked itself out, obviously not without the further effort and stress of applications and interviews, after I secured a job at the same place doing something so similar that my daily routine only changed in the podcasts I listened to while doing the job (which is irrelevant to the tale). All that the incident, which took place over about a 6-week period, seemed to prove was that I could perform in interviews.

This makes a fair amount of sense so far, the company was just restructuring the department and making it more efficient and cost effective. What struck me as odd, though, was being given a bonus this week for high quality work and proving myself as a valued employee over the last year. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for some cash that will go towards my savings or car insurance (especially as my salary wouldn’t entice even the most desperate media studies graduate), but how valuable can I be to the company if they were seemingly happy to make me redundant 3 months ago? Maybe I should ask for a promotion, they may install me as CEO. Mind you, if I was CEO then there’s no chance I would’ve received a bonus.

But I’m not so I’m going to take whatever I can out of this so-called world while I’m still able to. Hell, maybe there are even more stupid people out there I haven’t yet found who could give me somewhere to live, money when required and occasional happiness (and aren’t called my parents).