Life After Tyranny (Revisited)

Two years ago Thursday my journey was sidetracked by events chronicled in these very pages. What ensued afterward was one wild ride after another. Most were good, some were ugly. The remaining events were what my comrades described as “shit that would only happen to (me)”.

My foundation did not change one iota. I still threw myself haphazardly into love, mercilessly into the bottle and ultimately into another state. Another U.S. state, that is. Not the metaphysical or transcendental kinds I had strove so violently for.

But one thing definitely has changed. My faith in small business has been restored through a company that took me in when my options were limited and finances depleted. After the myriad of crushing experiences dealt by businesses run emotionally and barbarously I was welcomed into the open arms of an employee-centric, personality-nurturing work environment that stressed transparency, honesty and accountability without floating the dark cloud of termination overhead.

I could gush about the perks or fun but they are inconsequential to the most gratifying benefits. Every day the owners greet me, earnest and genuinely happy to have me there. Mistakes have never been rubbed in my face. I have never been lorded over by anyone. Titles have never superseded humanity.

Coming from a company whose employees were publicly castigated and subjected to startling levels of insensitivity and malice, and from an environment that tamped personality and withheld needed benefits, starting over in a system where morale is paramount is an astonishingly liberating experience.

The company has been made ours to grow and personalize; therefore we employees are fundamentally improving the company by making life in the building we spend a third of our life in enjoyable. The synergy of this cycle is the core of our undeniable success.

The bottom line is that it is possible to be content in a place of employment. Granted I jumped from worst-to-first in employers, I have also developed as a person. My daily regime of assertion, compromise and discipline is the counterweight to my workload. It’s still a job but I don’t dread going to work. Sometimes that is all you can ask for.

Work is not supposed to be fun. However it should never be so evil as to torture your psyche throughout the day and disturb your soul into the night. Draw a line in the sand between tolerable and detrimental. And don’t wait for them to show you the door. Find it on your own because you deserve better.