Viva Las Vegas
A few weekends ago I attended another convention in Las Vegas. The previous one was more of a trade show for the entire industry of mail and parcel centers, whereas this one was specific to our primary software vendor (and about 3000 other users). While the point of the convention was focused around various learning sessions, in the case of our company being there it was mainly for networking and public relations purposes. I found myself continually following, what I felt to be, an odd line of thought throughout the weekend.
I thought about conventions fifty, one hundred, and then three hundred years ago. I thought about the people that might be sitting in their seats, listening to a charismatic speaker giving his pitch. I imagined looking at those black and white photographs in my history class — the ones with the sullen, long-faced men and women, looking blankly at the camera. I wondered if they were inwardly excited about their involvement in whatever it was they were attending. Did they think they would change the world? Then I applied that thought to myself. This is the battle that I’ve faced for many years as I’ve integrated more and more into an 8-5 M-F corporate-ladder type job. Many men and women before me have done the same exact thing that I have done, and I want to ask them a single question: Was it worth it? Was the opportuniy cost of life worth it? Otherwise, why bother. Lately I’ve doubted that entire model to begin with though, and I pray that I’m not the only one. As I talked with different people in our own company and those that we work with, I had this sense that I was regarded as someone of importance. What I’m wondering is: “Does that make me unique?” After much thought these past few months, I’m pretty sure the answer is: “No”. I’m becoming fairly certain that just by assuming this position in Phoenix and using my knowledge to make a few dollars I will ultimately become a failure. More than likely a very successful one. I can’t be kidded into thinking that I’m unique in this regard. Countless threads of life have winked out of existence thinking they were unique, but only a handful found what they were looking for.
November 19th, 2006 at 2:33 pm
Why do you think working an 8-5 job and being financially secure makes you a failure? It really allows you to pursue in your free time whatever interests you more. And hopefully some day you will be successful enough to not have to work a 40-hour work week. Love you!
November 19th, 2006 at 3:35 pm
I don’t think working the 8-5 job will inherently make anyone a failure. It’s the matter of keeping in the proper balance that I’m worried about. You guys seemed to have a pretty safe balance in the sense that for the longest time I didn’t even know what Dad did for a living. I just knew he was gone for the better part of the day, and then he was home. Family truly did come first, in rhetoric and in practice. Once home, work was a non-issue. My first model will probably come from that angle.
The second will need to come from the fact that I’ve had to “sell out” to some degree because the work that I’m undertaking has a high opportunity cost. So I’ve had to decide if changing the world and having a healthy family will be easier in the Northwest making less money, or in Phoenix making more. Hence the dilemma.