Deep & Meaningful

I’ve never worked at McDonald’s, or been a waiter, but I’ve done many strange jobs while being out of my chosen industry of Information Technology.

How it happened was this: after retrenched from my programming role in 2001, I struggled to find other IT work in 2001 and couldn’t find it in 2002 either. After a period of several months of unemployment I realised I had better seek work in other fields!

I spell out what happened in more detail in my post What I Learned From Unemployment. Basically, I held two door to door sales jobs, spent 18 months doing courier work, tried my hand at high school teaching and even spent time filling cigarette vending machines.

After being fired from a job making announcements on railway stations due to this blog(!), I finally wound up back in an IT role waaaay back in 2007. That was a nice turnaround, but this series is called What I Learned From so let’s get onto that, shall we?

In describing this, it is hard to put tangible points on what I learned, but basically, I believe my life today is much richer for that period of struggle, than if I had remained in my IT role of 2001 and built a solid career in that industry, as was my intention.

Sure, I like being in IT, but how would I even have known how much, without the points of comparison I have had along the way? My colleagues who I left behind in 2001 always seemed discontented, perhaps from being in the one place too long, whereas during the same time period I worked outdoor as well as indoor jobs, working with many different interesting people, and got the chance to start a new business. I now have a much better idea of what I’m good at, what I can cope with, and what is truly important in life.

Although I haven’t made a fortune, I have many “life skills” that I believe will serve me well in years to come.

(This is part of the What I Learned From group writing project at Middle Zone Musings.)

The first group writing project at Middle Zone Musings was a success, so it was only natural the Robert Hruzek (Or was that Hzurek? Or Hukrez?) would plan a second. The second had the theme of “work” and before you knew it, everyone was pitching in their work-related life lessons, with Robert leading by example as usual.

Their were eighteen entries all told, covering a wide variety of experiences, from grueling work, first jobs, good jobs, bad jobs, dealing with people, new challenges and more besides.

The entries are as follows:

What I Learned from…

…Working in a Bar, by Genesis at the At Home Mom Blog

…Unemployment, by Markk at My Opinions are Important

…Working at a Startup, by Alex at Brick Blogging

…Working for the Government, by Lillie Ammann at A Writer’s Words

…The World of Work, by Troy Worman at orbitnow!

…Writing at Work, by Joanna Young at Confident Writing

…a power-cut, by Karin at The Kiss Business Two

…Blogging on Real Estate, by Michael Chantrel at MortgageGuide101

…Roofing Houses, by Nic Darling at Marketing Neophyte

…an Unscheduled Trip to Cleveland, by Mike DeWitt at Spooky Action

…the Corporate World, by Laura Spencer at WritingThoughts

…My First Job, by Pete Aldin at Great Circle

…Work, by Bob Glaza at One Reader at a Time

…Working at a Larger Company, by Jim Estill at CEO Blog – Time Leadership

…Homer Simpson About Jobs, by Jacob Share at JobMob

…a School Student About Business and People, by Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing Business

…a Manlift, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings

…Industrial Cleaning by Benjamin at Hello Internet

Some top posts there. Congratulations all round.

This post is part of the latest group writing project at Middle Zone Musings. The topic is simply “What have you learned from …” and it has to be something to do with work.

First, some background: After I graduated with an IT degree in 1999, I got myself a full-time programming job at a good company, only to be shown the door after a year. I thought I would find another job quickly, but this was at the beginning of the IT crash of that time and what looked like a temporary setback turned into a long and drawn-out struggle.

I did not work at all for several months as I tried to find more IT work. When it wasn’t forthcoming I got myself a temporary position selling security systems door-to-door while still looking for a suitable IT position. I also got my friend, my brother and my sister jobs doing the door-to-door thing.

After two months, the company collapsed and we all lost money; me, my sister, my friend, my brother. It was my brother’s first job and he never got paid a cent.

I quickly found another security systems sales job, but they shut their office two months later. I next found work at a local take-away doing delivery driving. While working there, I decided to return to study, having given up on IT work. I got accepted into the Diploma of Education.

That lasted a year, but it soon became apparent that I wasn’t cut out for high school teaching and I ended up failing the course. Then an opportunity came up to become a courier driver, which I took up, borrowing money to buy a panel van for that purpose.

That decision proved disastrous, pushing me to the brink of bankruptcy by the time I quit. I ended up writing off my van in an accident, in which I fortunately was not injured.

Finally, after a few months, I landed a well-paying job, and then another nine months later, where I am still working today.

Whew!

Now, what did I learn from all that? Not nothing, hopefully. Here are some lessons to draw on from my experience:

1. Study will only get you so far

Degrees and good marks are nowhere near as important as we were told at school. While studying and good academic results may get you a good job, any subsequent success will only come as a result of your own initiative and other factors.

2. Money isn’t everything

Choosing a job or business opportunity based solely on how much money you will make from it is a bad idea. Better to choose one based on other factors, such as skills development and personal development, as promised financial gains can prove illusory.

3. The sun doesn’t shine forever

Each of us will go through good times and bad times throughout our lives, but the tendency is to assume that good times will last forever. Instead, it is wise to prepare for the bad times when the times are still good. That way, you will be better prepared and a lot less stressed when the cycle of life turns.

4. Never compromise your integrity

When you compromise your integrity, you compromise your reputation with others. Better to find an opportunity that does not require you to compromise your ideals. As in point #2, promised financial gains may prove illusory anyway. Over the long term, honesty in financial affairs tends to bring wealth, as those who would do business with you know you can be trusted.

But am I living out these lessons? That’s a topic for another post.

Thank Robert Hruzek for this. His group writing project asked participants to write an article on a life lesson they learned from an unusual source. All told, there were 16 entries.

Here is the complete list of entries, each one finishing the phrase “What I Learned From…”

“… Teen Girl Squad”, by Markk at My Opinions Are Important
WOW! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll cheer. Top post. Top, top post.

“… the Mt. Pinatubo Eruption”, by Ronald Huerca at Ronalfy.com
Most of this has nothing to do with volcanic eruptions, but worth the read all the same.

“… Drugs”, by Sam Brougher at Forest Azuaran
Legal drugs. Strong legal drugs that do strange things to your emotions and memory. Reminds me of a friend’s experience with oxycodeine (”The walls are melting …”).

“… a Mesquite Tree”, by Mike DeWitt at Spooky Action
You are limited only by your willingness to be bold. That, and mesquite trees are weird.

“… Drinking Starbucks Coffee”, by George Manty at Can I Make Big Money Online
The main thing I learned from drinking Starbucks coffee is not to visit Starbucks. That’s not what this post is about though Useful for those of you who run a business.

“… My Wife!”, by Rajaram Sethuraman at Thoughts of a Rambler
One man learns that he is a fashion disaster, among other things.

“… Having a Daughter”, by Marco Richter at FitForFreedom
How to not worry about being in debt.

“… Norm”, by Joe Raasch at The Happy Burro
Getting the most out of each moment in life.

“… my mentors”, by Karin H. at The Kiss Business Too
Two mentors, and what Karin H. learned from them.

“… Procrastinating”, by Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing Business
This piece will inspire you to procrastinate more often, if you could be bothered. Perhaps later on.

“… a Squirrel”, by G.L. Hoffman at What Would Dad Say
A nice story, with a zinger at the end.

“… Blogging”, by Gayla McCord at Mom Gadget
Someone who makes money by writing 12 blogs talks about that, and why she doesn’t go insane writing so much. Very informative.

“… a Weight Problem”, by Monique Attinger at Insurance Guide 101
Learn about overcoming a weight problem, and also about insurance. What more could you want?

“… Taking Out the Garbage”, by Michael Chantrel at Mortgage Guide 101 Blog
Why taking out the garbage is just like paying off a mortgage.

“… RUMMAGING!” by William Tully at LOGICal eMOTIONs
Looking at a product at the end of its life cycle, and winding the clock back.

“… A Light Switch”, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
When Cooking Goes Bad, or why you learn most about someone by viewing them when things go wrong.

(The following is my contribution to the writing project at Middle Zone Musings, which is a blog you should read always. The project is simple: write a blog post with the topic What life lesson(s) have you learned from an unusual source? I’m not sure if this is the type of thing Robert Hzurek had in mind. Ah well.)

Teen Girl Squad, a flash animation series on Homestar Runner, follows the lives and untimely demises of four teenage girls:

• Cheerleader – the popular, attractive girl who is the ringleader of the squad,

• So-and-so – the academic one who avoids being academic in order to fit in,

• Whats-her-face – who has bad fashion sense and is the outsider of the group, and

• The Ugly One! (Yes, she really is called that.)

Sarz has previously mentioned she most identifies with Whats-her-face (the one wearing pants). That puzzles me a bit. Perhaps we’ll see why as we go through each episode in the series.

What I Have Learned From Teen Girl Squad

Episode 1:

Teenage girls are obsessed with appearance and have crushes on boys.
Watching cartoon girls get stomped on by dinosaurs is funny.

Episode 2:

Clouds have teeth.
Teenage boys are dumb. (“You must be girls.”)

Episode 3:

Girls like shopping. (no, really!)
Op shops are not considered fashionable.

Episode 4:

Girl crushes are ridiculous.
Girls are ridiculous full stop. (Discuss.)

Episode 5:

Cartoon girls upended in the sand, being used as a perch by evil birds, is strangely entertaining.
Girls with bad fashion sense get abandoned by their friends.
Teenage girls sometimes pass themselves off as older than they really are in order to attract older boys.

Episode 6:

Peer pressure drives girls to do insane things. Probably not as insane as jumping into a lion’s mouth, though.

Episode 7:

This one was less educational than the others. Sorry.

Episode 8:

When playing a bass guitar, watch that it doesn’t turn into a shark and eat you.

Episode 9:

In high school, are friends really friends?
Without Cheerleader around, the other girls are free from pressure.
“The tyranny is over!”

Episode 10:

Teenage romance is completely ridiculous. (Or did that get covered in a prior episode? Or all the episodes?)
Parties are much more interesting if there are boys involved.

Episode 11:

Beware of maniacs in speedos.

Episode 12:

“She likes cloth” is a good band name.
“Say baby, you want to find a remote access point with me?” is a good pick up line.
Texting from three feet away is silly.
Whats-her-face finds true love in this episode, which is why Sarz likes it so much.

****

I suspect I learned something about the nature of girls by watching this series of animations. Judge for yourselves by the comments above. Or, perhaps, be shocked and stunned that I have just learned everything I know about women from a series of very silly flash cartoons.

In all seriousness, this series brought back memories of high school for me, with its pettiness, its peer pressure, the focus on popularity and the strange dynamic in play between boys and girls. Thank goodness times change and priorities change.

But how much do things change really? How much of our lives is focussed on looking good, chasing material things and playing politics in the workplace? I’m not sure the insanity of teenagedom ever goes away – it just becomes more subdued, more channelled.

What is the main thing that characterises teenage life? I would say it is it’s unplanned nature, living for the moment and not thinking much about the future; indeed, barely able to comprehend the future.

Yet what happens when we become adults? How often do we actually think about what we’re doing? Do we have a plan? How often do we stop to consider whether we are fulfilling that plan? How much do we allow our lives to be shaped by the expectations of others?

I’ve been challenged as of late - and I suppose this is only tangentially related to Teen Girl Squad - to have a plan, to know we’re I’m going.

How much of our lives have meaning? How much time do we spend on things that don’t matter?

Our society has conducted a number of experiments with marriage already, and all of them have had negative results that were not foreseen.

Traditionally, it is defined as a lifelong commitment between one man and one woman. Some societies have redefined this so it is between one man and multiple women, but this creates numerous problems.

Our society, along with others, has made divorce easier, and it has become much more common. The expectation now is that marriage will not last for life. As a result, many children grow up fatherless or motherless. Such children are far more likely to become delinquent, more likely to be sexually abused, etc, to say nothing of the damage done to their parents.

So we see that changing marriage to allow multiple wives doesn’t work, and neither does making it a temporary arrangement. The damage done to our society alone by divorce should make us tread carefully before allowing further change. Yet most of this damage was not foreseen. Divorce was not made easier in order to destroy marriage, but to make it easier to escape from bad ones, which was difficult at that time. Yet the solution to the problems that were evident in that day has only produced larger problems.

What shall be the result if marriage is changed in order to make it same gender? We need to consider the effects not only on the marriage partners involved, but also on their children and on society as a whole.

Marriage is an institution that is fundamental to the stability and well-being of our society. It is universal to humanity; common to all religions and cultures. Since it is so intrinsic to human relationships, why do we attempt to redefine it? Are we so arrogant to think that we know better than all those who passed before us? Surely these proposed changes are hubristic in the extreme.

Where there is injustice in our society, we should seek to resolve it, but not by redefining marriage.

Some people are annoying. They simply can’t get along with other people, are one-eyed, and cannot see beyond their own prejudice in order to get along. They are full of intolerance and intolerance is bad. I hate people like that. They ought to be shot.

In other news, I was pondering the mysteries of life. (How’s that for a subject change?) As a Christian (heathens can fade out here), I was pondering my own life. Specifically, I was going through it year by year, to see what lessons I could learn. Also to spot patterns, to see where God might be leading me. (Because he does that, you see. Take THAT, deists.)

I spotted a few patterns. Two patterns, actually. Two patterns that have been consistent in my life up until now. Both of these things are normally considered negatives. Those that have them tend to gripe about them. Yet, here is the thing. As I pondered these two attributes, I was struck by the realisation that what I was really looking at were two mechanisms that God was using to train me up according to His purpose. When I saw this, I was able to embrace them and thank God for them.

For in Jesus there is a remarkable correlation between the extent of the trials and tribulations that we must face, and the power inherent in our calling. Those who are called of God to a powerful ministry will, like the apostle Paul, be taken through a gruelling regimen of trials. For those who have a “lesser” ministry (as we would judge it), they will have an easier life.

When we fully understand this truth, we need no longer gripe about our struggles, but rather we can embrace them like a brother or sister, knowing that God turns our struggles around for the good.