Boy, that last post — that was something. I got thousands of LinkedIn views and an outpouring of support from friends and strangers. It was by far my most well received blog post ever. If I was uneasy following up the success of the Zoom post last week, you can imagine how much of a basket case I am now. And at the risk of looking like I’m going back to the well with a self-loathing lead-in like last time … actually, you’re god damn right I am.
Speak from the heart, right?
For starters, my situation has improved. I was able to iron things out with the unemployment department. Turns out I’m eligible for maximum benefits plus an extra $600 per week bump in pandemic relief. I’ve also been blessed with new potential work opportunities.
So why do you feel like a good-for-nothing ingrate?
Because I feel like a lot of these work opportunities have flaws. Some are part-time. Some, the subject matter doesn’t get my heart racing. And will any opportunity offer near the compensation I was getting before this whole mess began? The answer is a big “I have no idea.”
C’mon, Nick. Beggers can’t be choosers. And let’s face it, you’re out here basically panhandling online.
I know, I know. I’ve never been laid off before, so forgive me; this is all new. When presented with options, should one just shut up and take anything? Part-time work at a low-for-me rate seems — forgive me — counterproductive. I’m not particularly into the idea of earning a marginal amount more than unemployment while losing half my time to tend to the kids and look for full-time work. But maybe that just doesn’t exist right now. Fundamentally, I also feel compelled to earn my money, not browse for my dream job on the government’s dime. It’s real easy to get picky and choosey when you have options. Two weeks ago, I would have hustled my ass off for a wisp of interest.
Soon after I published that post, I felt flush with options. Lately though, I’ve been the vice president of #IBSgang (all rise for our president and founding father @MrEddieHuang). I had to step away from it all for the weekend.
When all else fails, trust your gut
Then over the weekend, people across the country took to the streets to protest stay-at-home orders. If social media is to be believed, there are two kinds of people in the world, ones who believe the experts and ones who are unyielding skeptics. Me — while I believe it’s good practice to question everything, I also “default to truth”1 particularly when it comes to our most widely trusted institutions, such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and the CDC, to name a few.
Big conspiracies are possible and worth discussion. But by and large, several major independent news outlets conspiring to fleece the American public in the name of a liberal Democratic agenda just doesn’t hold water. Similarly — sorry anti-vaxxers — but the idea that a nationwide network of doctors and researchers have conspired to control the population by poisoning our vaccines just doesn’t pass the bullshit test. And Pizzagate? GTFOH.
That’s just it, as sexy and intriguing as a conspiracy may appear, in the end you have to use your bullshit radar. For instance, how feasible is the conspiracy you’re entertaining? If not a single legitimate doctor, scientist, or researcher has substantiated that 5G signals are causing COVID-like damage, then what the hell are you basing your information on? That it can’t be disproven? Well hey, you can’t disprove that the events in Total Recall didn’t really happen, so it must all be true. If no reliable news outlet is taking a conspiracy theory seriously, and no legitimate scientists are willing to stake their reputation on it, then it simply doesn’t hold up. And no, some sketchy Instagram group’s seal of approval ain’t it, boss.
My point is not to pick a fight with the Alt Right, your tin-foil-hat wearing uncle, or Kyrie Irving. It’s also not to proclaim that I am right and you are wrong. I’m not a doctor, scientist, or researcher either. I’m just saying that trusting my gut has always served me well.
My gut has never been more accurate as it is in matters of my career. I’ve escaped lay-off several times by trusting my instincts and finding other employment months, sometimes even just weeks, before my position hit the chopping block. Hell, during my last stint, the writing was plastered on the wall very quickly. In October, I was an optimistic new hire. In mid-December, my immediate supervisor left his post and I started getting nervous. By January, all my alarms were going off as I began aggressively sending out job applications.
Life moves pretty fast. It doesn’t come with an instruction manual. The best you can do is keep your eyes open and trust your gut.
So about being good-for-nothing …
The point I’m trying to make is I’m going to navigate this difficult time in my career by trusting my gut. If you’re also looking for work and are fortunate enough to have some options, hang in there. Everyone’s trying to find their footing right now. There are no black-and-white answers.
If you’re in a position to reach out to someone to offer work, be patient with them. A lot of us are spinning plates, trying desperately to avoid everything crashing all at once. Job seekers may be fielding several requests at the same time, all on different timelines.
No matter what, every bit of empathy we can spare each other right now, big or small, is what we all need.
Hopefully this pep talk makes me good for something.
- In his latest book Talking to Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell explains how “default to truth” is fundamental to society functioning. I highly recommend giving his podcast-inspired audiobook a listen. [↩]
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