Death March

$1.599

I was walking in to work this morning (after a particularly harrowing Monday), and watched the other people around me: heads down, walking with an intent, joyless stride.

Are people really happy at work? I think it’s possible, but I think the vast majority of workers go to work, not because that’s where they choose to spend their day, but because they’ve made the committment to trade their time in exchange for pay, and to spend that time doing as much as they can for their employer. Not a bad deal overall, right?

But, what kinds of committments? Committments to the company? Maybe, but most people I don’t think of as having that kind of loyalty. I think it’s committments to creditors and family, a desire to have a certain lifestyle, and backing into a situation where, if they were to be unemployed by their company, they would lose elements of their lifestyle.

I’m no different. I’d rather be shooting, but I can’t make a living at it (yet!), so Corporate America is where I’ve chosen to hang my hat, and is probably where I will have to hang my hat for a while.

So what makes me different from the millions of folks out there that don’t hang their coat on the Corporate coathook daily? Luck, perhaps, maybe skill or gifts, even bravery.

In my case, it’s the desire for the stability that Corporate America delivers… or at least has until the last few years. That’s my tradeoff, my sellout.

But one day, armed with lenses and compact flash cards, I will take the world by storm. Watch this space….