The Corporate Time Warp

I'm sure a handful of you may recall an instance in which I stated how much I'm opposed to discussing the future, as so much of it is uncertain and could change at any second. However, there are a few things that are inevitably going to happen, and I am always open to discussing those aspects of our eventual destinies. The first one, unfortunately, is that we are all going to get old. As soon as that starts happening, we'll all want to retire and move to Florida.

It's tough for kids like us to think that far ahead, right? I mean, I'm still not sure what I'm even going to do tomorrow, let alone in 40 years. In addition, the times have evolved quite a bit from the past decades when our parents were around our age, living in the 1950s & 60s. More specifically, the roles of women and men have changed somewhat drastically. Us ladies are also career women and not just stay-at-home-moms anymore.

I spend most of my days editing videos in the corporate basement of a large Fortune 500 company. Everyone reading this probably knows where that is. If you don't, close your browser window immediately or your computer will self-destruct in less than ten seconds...

This company has been around for a loooooong time. So have many of the buildings that house its thousands of employees. When I walk into work every morning, I feel like I'm walking into a time capsule. Especially in my department, where 40-year-old video and audio equipment still lingers behind closed office doors, along with mountains of archival footage on formats I've never even heard of. Even older than some of the ancient office chairs and brass lamps are a majority of the employees who work here.

The cafeteria decor resembles that of a 1970s television studio used to tape pornography of big-haired women doing drugged-up hippie men. This is an excellent location for people-watching, where all the folks who started working here in the 1980s, and who haven't changed their wardrobe since the 1980s, come out of the woodwork to eat their bagged lunches. 

Yes, I have seen tapered khakis and a few over-sized sweaters, that's for sure. Men, let's not forget about your thick-framed glasses, faded Dockers and too-small button-down oxfords. And comb-overs. I can't help but think about whether or not they're happy. Some of these people just seem so miserable to be at work. Is it any wonder? They've probably been working here for at least 20 years. Is it the same schedule for them everyday? Wake up. Eat breakfast. Drink coffee. Sit at desk. Type reports. Go home. Eat dinner. Watch TV. Go to bed. It's almost like a live version of the movie Office Space is happening right in front of my eyes. 

"Um, yeah, I'm gonna need you to go ahead and stay past 5:00 today..."



I can't help but sometimes get stuck in that attitude as well. Though I'm doing what I love, when I start having to spend too much time in the office, I start losing my mind. I also have that annoying boss who's always up in everyone's face all the time, not to mention the token disgruntled employee who doesn't really even have to do anything, he just pisses me off. The constant interruptions, the ridiculous corporate policies, the same stupid bullshit everyday. This is so not the environment for me.

When I see those employees here who have spent year after year of their lives working in the same place for the same company, I can only think of one thing: I don't want that to be me.

I had a conversation with my mom not that long ago about my grandpa and grandma, and how much they enjoyed their retirement. My grandpa worked for the Ford Motor Company for 35 years. YEARS. I've only been in the work force for four years, and I'm on my third job. Why? Because when I became bored or unhappy, I wanted to move on. I didn't want to waste any more time dreading each morning because I'd have to go in to an office with people that annoy me, or to do work I didn't enjoy.

I feel like our generation could be the one to start breaking the mold. I told my mom, I don't want to work at the same company for twenty or thirty years. There's no variety! Especially in an industry like mine, if you get stuck in one spot doing the same thing over and over again and not learning anything new, you'll get left behind. And it's not just working at the same job day in and day out... it's living in the same place!! I can't be here for the rest of my life; there's too much to see and do. Seriously, is anyone with me?

There is one glaring problem, however: Retirement. Working for small video production companies doesn't always offer the same benefits as say, the larger corporations. It's tough for me (and I'm sure I'm not the only one) to think about saving money up and not spending it for another thirty years when there's just so much I want to do now!

I'm excited for wherever my career might take me. So far, I've had many opportunities to do some really great things, and I feel like it can only get better from here. As long as I never have to write any TPS reports, that is.

Fucking technology!