A Point of Personal Privilege
I got some flack Tuesday for a blog post I wrote regarding the rocket scientists over at the GM stamping plant who voted themselves out of a job. I had a number of people ask me what would I do if my employer wanted me to take a 50-percent wage cut?
I can answer that question pretty easily because I had a similar situation occur back in 2003. My boss had run for Governor of Illinois and lost so a lot of us ended up losing our jobs. I was let go. Luckily I had savings and paid off some debt to make it for the next few months. Three months later I got offered a job playing morning radio talk show host. It was a great opportunity, but it only paid 65-percent of my former salary. So what did I do? I took it.
I did it in part because it was something I always wanted to do and secondly, it was steady pay. I knew had to make up the difference in pay, so I used the part-time and freelance jobs that I had picked up over the past three months to supplement my income. And by the time it was said and done, I was making more than I did with my old job. It just took some ingenuity and some creativity instead of whining and engaging in self-destructive behavior.
Now I will freely admit my situation is a little different than most people. A single guy in his late 20s and early 30s probably has a few more options than someone in their 50s with a family. However, how we deal with adversity is the true testament of our character. We can whine and shutdown or stand-up and take on the challenge head on.
Obviously, the workers at GM who voted themselves out of job decided that they would rather face unemployment.
