May 28, 2002

Damn. It's been a long time since I last read an article that hit the proverbial nail so precisely on the head:

Who Needs a Job, Anyway?

... "But while you might reasonably imagine these legions of the laid-off to be sliding into something akin to desperation, an odd thing has happened. Instead of fretting, some of them are feeling free. Instead of being distressed about their situation, they're happier than they've ever been. They've stopped actively looking for a new job and have relaxed into living lean. And perhaps most important of all, they've vowed that whatever comes next, it'll be better suited to their lives than their former dot-com grind was."

... "Running around the house in lounge-y clothes, or none at all, is exceedingly pleasant by comparison to [wearing] nylons, dress shoes and professional clothes," says Wessel. "What I really miss the very least is the personal compromises one has to make to keep a job. Being treated in ways, or asked to do things, that make you uncomfortable, and knowing you have to put up with a certain amount of it if you want a paycheck." ...

"I don't miss having to get up every morning and put on professional clothes and put on makeup," says Adesko. "I don't miss having to do retail therapy and go shopping on my lunch hour to feel better about a job I hated. I would easily spend $20 on lunch and lattes and 'I must have a cookie at four in the afternoon.' I don't need that anymore, because I'm doing something at 4 o'clock that I like."

... "An awful lot of people out there were never meant to be development directors or publicity agents or content producers. They're readjusting now and becoming what it is they dreamed of being, or what they meant to be all along. No, the changes haven't been easy. But for all the pain, clear benefits are emerging. Dreams that would have never taken root in dot-com land are sprouting and growing. And that, my friends, is the best possible outcome from all the tumult of the last two years."