I got used to this recession and now someone’s rocking the boat
Remember how things were before the recession? There was a lot to do; my many clients sent emails requesting work. I got out of bed early in the morning to write and I wrote late into the night to keep up with the demand. Everyone paid their accounts, in full and on time and life was pretty hectic. Then, almost without warning, came the recession. It was called a ‘downturn’, a ‘slowdown’, an ‘adjustment’ and only when it got very serious did it turn into a global disaster where it remains to this day.
Life changed
Life changed, alright. For the first time I was forced to take an Online Payday Loan to keep a few creditors from breaking down the door. I had always been a good payer, probably the best payer in town. There was plenty of money in the bank so why keep people waiting for theirs? The work requests twitched a couple of times and then lay still. I searched around but there was nothing. So I introduced a few little changes as well, in keeping with the changes in the overall economy. I took a crossword break/nap on the couch after lunch. No point in sitting in front of a non-moving computer, is there? I went shopping with my wife to the supermarket mainly to supervise the spending hold-back that I had introduced. I had an occasional morning coffee shop meeting with other unemployed colleagues. And then there’s the beach…
I like it
It’s easy to get used to a life of idleness. Bertrand Russell, the twentieth century’s most important liberal thinker, wrote in his essay, In Praise of Idleness, “I think that there is far too much work done in the world, that immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous, and that what needs to be preached in modern industrial countries is quite different from what always has been preached.” I agree. I have come to enjoy idleness.
Back to earth
A phone call from my old engineering office jolted me out of my pleasant life. The company is hanging onto life by its fingernails, mainly by not completing work for a major client. “Please be in the office at 2 pm sharp!” I was on the highway threading my way through the traffic at 1:00 pm for the 20 mile drive. In the office I was introduced to Gordon, “who has joined the organization and is taking over marketing. Please support him.” The office pays me a minor retainer just to be around so I nodded blankly wondering where Gordon was going to find a place to market.
Work!
Wherever he’s going to market, he’s demanding a whole slew of background work from me. I swallowed, cancelled a coffee meeting with Sid, my unemployed architect friend, and started work. Ten minutes later an email sailed in from an old and trusted client asking if I could do some work for her in a hurry? No problem, I replied and added 3 days to Gordon’s timetable. His response was icy. A phone call – “I understand you are a writer. How would you like to edit a 200 page memoir that my father wrote some years back? He’s decided he would like to publish it after all.”
No more work
I am not opening emails nor am I answering the phone. I am suffering from mixed feelings. It’s great to be working again but I’m dying to get back to a life of recession.
