Archive for February 2009
Why Worry?
Some co-workers and I were talking the other day about the state of the economy. I mean, really what else are people talking about these days. Anyways, I began to notice a sense of panic among them. This kind of thing can become very contagious. I can remember back when I worked for Pan Am just how contagious that line of thought had gotten. 1 Although one should never say never, I’m not worried at the moment. Even though our volume has seemed to drop, its not such a dramatical drop where we should start running for the caves. But I can tell that some people have never been in this situation before. I have some advice folks. And as some one who has been through this shit before I know what I’m talking about. So my advice to my coworkers, and anyone else reading this blog for that matter, is simple.2
Don’t worry about it. Let me repeat that, OK? Don’t worry about it. There is nothing you can do or change, by yourself that will change economic conditions (unless you’re a billionaire that can buy everything in sight to stimulate the economy.) So why lose hair over it. By the time Pan Am shut down I was grey and balding and not yet thirty. Until they hand you that pink slip (which BTW in my case was a white form letter) no need to freak out about it. Fuck, you still have a job. Live like you do. I spent months upon months of worrying whether I should pay off a credit card or buy things I wanted. To make matters worse my debt to income ratio was completely out of whack (my fault, I’m not blaming anybody for that.) So I went into a tizzy of worry. I traded in my beloved custom van for an Isuzu Imark in a moment of panic. I’ll never be able to make those payments I thought. I also took a beating at the dealership, but thats another story. Want a new car? Go buy it. Why not? You’re employed and can afford it. “What if I get laid off”, you might ask. Well then you’re not going to be able to buy that car now, are you? In fact with that attitude you’ll never get it.
Listen folks, don’t whine about how the economy sucks if you’re not doing anything about it, like spending some of your money. If you haven’t heard three quarters of our system is driven by consumer spending. The other third is businesses keeping up with our spending. Granted its not exactly the most perfect system but hey its what we got. Want to know what I’m doing? My tax refund (along with some saved money is going to be used for a new MacBook Pro and an NAS with about terabyte and a half of storage. We just bought a brand new stove. New windows are going in the house this spring. So, got a few extra bucks in your pocket and want that venti latte from Starbucks? Fuck it, go for it. PC took a shit? Go buy that Mac you’ve been wishing for.
The one thing that sticks in my mind more than anything from my experience at losing a job, and a good one at that, is what my crew chief Darryl said to me. About a month before Pan Am shut down he went and bought a brand new Dodge minivan. I was like, Dude what you crazy? We’re all about to go down with the Titanic here. I filed his response away in my memory knowing that some day it would make some sense.
“Why worry? There’s no debtors prison.” Absolutely fuckin’, right.
- Pan Am was obviously in worse shape than my present employer, UPS. In fact Pan Am was in the red for what seemed decades. So it was no surprise to almost all of us when she finally folded. However if I had a dollar for every time someone told me we’re shutting down before the end of the month or week I could have retired at thirty.↑
- The other big difference is that the airline industry tends to be a lot shakier than most industries. Jesus, if some one farts in Iran, airlines in America lose money. Not to mention Pan Am was a lighting rod for terrorist, even before they were flying them into buildings. ↑
