Indiana

A Point of Personal Privilege

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

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.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on September 29, 2010 (boomark / email).