i seem to have a cat like ability to land on my feet.
there`s a standing joke in the advertising industry here about my penchant for leaving a job before i have something else lined up. to some it may seem irresponsible, but when i started in the industry i was setting type.
i`m going to date myself here, but i`m proud of my age. when i started in advertising, laser printers were the exception, not the rule. and types on an ad consisted of rubbing letraset characters. i was the new wave, we did the typography on the computer, using the 13 type faces that apple offered at the time. the artist would spec the type, we would do all of it up on the computer then send it out to the one lithographer in the country, who also owned the only laser printer in the country.
for the next five years, i grew with the burgeoning industry. from preparing artwork in full colour, to sending it for output to film, to going straight to the newspapers. we were on the edge of technology. our agency was the first and i was neck deep in it.
i helped production departments at the two major newspapers adjust to the new digital workflow, all the time learning and growing. my first marriage collapsed. i was distressed but i now had an excuse to spend 20 hours a day in the office.
this wasn`t a job anymore this was a career. and one day i realised i`d gotten as far as i was going to get where i was, so i quit. i had no job lined up, i was going to go home and be self employed.
and it was good. i made enough money to meet my commitments, i was happy and i made a decision, the day work ceased being fun i was going to stop. i try to keep that promise to myself.
i`ve left the industry in this country entirely for two years and now i`m back. working for a woman i have no respect for. in a job that pays less that i made when i left my first advertising gig.
i`ve been in this industry 12 years. i have enough experience to start my own business. why am i settling? why am i putting up with this shit? am i truly unhappy with my job or is it just my boss that i loathe? is it time for me to just walk away?
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