Antiwork

I know this isn't technically anti work but it's anti conventional job. I have an opportunity to move across the country and be a backpacking guide with decent pay. I'm very excited about this possibility as it would free me up to explore and live a more nomadic lifestyle. My parents view this as “not a real job” and want me to go back to college where I was incredibly unhappy to get a degree so I can have health insurance in the future. I experienced a cube-farm a couple times in my life and never want to set foot in one again.

I passed it up because the highest they could pay was 12 an hour. Apparently I made a good impression on the owner, because six months later I'm getting a call that they're hiring again and this time they're MEETING MY WAGE. Not just for me but the new starting wage is 15 an hour specifically because of the interview he had with me back then where I bought up the cost of living in the area being closer to 17 an hour. It's not much and it's not enough but fuck yeah, I guess I made some positive change? I might go for it. I've been doing freelance work to make ends meet but I could use some structure in my life.

Management has issued an ultimatum: return to office or get fired. I’m calling their bluff. Some backstory: I’ve been at my company for just under 4 years. When I first got the job I was told that they valued “flexible schedules” and “work-life balance”. I was told I’d be able to work from home, that my in-office hours wouldn’t be tracked, and that if I was meeting deadlines and expectations there wouldn’t be an issue. This all turned out to be complete bullshit. If I sat at my desk at 8:32, if I left work at 5:15, if I took an hour lunch, if I worked a single day from home; I would get check-ins from my boss, my boss’s boss, and sometimes an email from HR to remind me of the company’s “expectations.” I resolved to stay at the company for 2 yrs for my resume and then I’d…

Going back to the office would prop up restaurants and real estate, which are not real industries. They are a luxury. Instead, letting these boutique “industries” fail and having the workforce rebuild an industrial economy of manufacturing would be a much more productive path to take.