Wednesday, November 17, 2004

PTSS - at work???

Couple o' things ~

At work today we had a round of job eliminations. Not firings or layoffs but eliminations of the need for a person to do something. Ahhh . . . call it what you will. My interest at this point is in the social and individual effects of such an activity. The corporation where I work just did this same thing less than six months ago. They had previously done it almost 18 months ago as well. Now, that doesn't make this corporation bad or the managers or officers evil. My own reaction and the reactions of others with whom I converse does lead me to this consideration: to what degree might an observer expect to be able to draw parallels between employees and even managers who have to "let go" employees who's jobs have been eliminated and people in a situation of constant attrition. Now I don't mean to liken in any appreciable way working for a Fortune 250 company and being on the front lines of battle. One is stressful but not horrific; the other is a trip into the macabre that no matter whether you win or lose you will lose some of yourself in the process. The lingering effects on the psyche of participants in either arena is where I'm wondering if there is any parallel (not equivilency; just similarity). After a person has worked at a corporation for 4 years and seen 3 "lay-offs" doesn't he begin to develop a cynical attitude of detachment about the management? Isn't there a self-preservation tendancy that makes him/her consider twice before opening up to co-workers; the very people against whom he will contend for the precious corporate dollar that can only go to fund one family while the loser heads off to generate resumes in manic-depressive fits until he begins to find some semblance of normality in another job.
Having asked that question I want to point out that I do understand that these two situations are incredibly, vastly different. See in a corporate setting the individuals do actually have some control over the downward plummet. If they band together and focus their energies they can generate good situations, trust with clients and other business entities and find a way out of the hellacious pressure cooker. I don't for a second think that a Harvey Mackay (did I get that right) or a "7 Steps" book is going to truly change the environment in which a soldier finds himself. I just happen to find some of the flinching and stress that I seem to read about going along with PTSS (feelings of relief followed by feelings of guilt and questions about ones "value" to the group and why one didn't lose a job when another did).

Anyway, enough maudlin stuff. I've tried to approach a side business from the standpoint that its a marathon and not a sprint. I have felt financial pressure throughout the last 18 months as I added supplies to my little business venture. I selected only high or highest quality goods as I'm a firm believer in buying high quality goods and paying for them once instead of buying cheaper goods and paying for them several times while also hindering yourself from doing that which would earn money. I'm sure just like it'll be difficult to tell just when you broke even on the thousands of dollars invested in a private business, its difficult to state that I've "made it" to the professional level. I don't garner a majority of my income from photography and don't expect to anytime soon but I did make a nice enough little sum of money that I'm looking forward to photographing the attendees at another ball. It was fun and the money was good for the amount of time I spent. I have finally started adding proofs to my online sales site (kevinriggs.myexposure.com). I just got word tonight that some people may want me to photography a private party this weekend. I'm pretty stoked. If I can pickup some odd jobs around the area I could actually start making enough money to payoff some of the equipment I have invested in. That's a cool idea.

Well, its getting pretty late and I have typed WAAAAAYYYYY more than I intended but I don't feel like going back to revise it.

Thanks for reading,

Kev

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