Before heading in to work this afternoon, I decided to stop by a supermarket near my workplace to pick up a box of granola and a container of yogurt for a frugal dinner. As I was approaching the supermarket entrance, I recognized a former coworker of mine from my days working for a Fortune One Hundred corporation. I hadn't seen her in about ten years, but she looked like she hadn't aged a bit (for the record, she's an extraordinarily cute woman). She is still working for the same employer. We chatted for a good while, catching up on old coworkers, her children (one out of college and living in Queens, the other in his last year of college, studying sports medicine and physical/occupational therapy). We always got on well, and our impromptu reunion was very pleasant.
I am glad to say that I made my break from Corporate America and the attendant grind. I don't miss the office, I never had wacky adventures or grand vistas on the job. On my current job, I am never at a loss for material, it's not the "turned on the computer, got coffee, started pounding the keys" sort of slog I used to have. Sure, I work weekends and a lot of holidays, but I can't even complain about that.
Given how Corporate America has gotten even more toxic and predatory in the past decade, I don't think I'd ever go back.
Indeed. I got my start in the technology biz at Polaroid's floppy disk factory in Santa Rosa over a quarter century ago. I'm grateful for the doors it opened and the things it led to, I did NOT belong in a large corporation. I didn't fit in, (in a buttoned down east coast type company the Cambodian women on the production line called me "no-socks", which tells you all you need to know about the culture clash that was my daily work experience) and it was only my sales numbers that induced them to keep me around.
ReplyDeleteI left after only a couple years and have worked for small, specialized firms and startups ever since, places I can have a voice and make a difference...
All my corporate experiences have ended in a blast.
ReplyDelete~
(in a buttoned down east coast type company the Cambodian women on the production line called me "no-socks", which tells you all you need to know about the culture clash that was my daily work experience)
ReplyDeleteI should post about the day I forgot my pants.
All my corporate experiences have ended in a blast.
Cool guys never look back at the explosion.