Updated January 3, 2008. New email just came in – fascinating account of one guy’s misadventures in the working world and how it grows worse as the years go by.
With my article, Working for the Puppet People… I decided to try an experiment — invite people to respond carissaconti@yahoo.com with their own personal stories and experiences pertaining to anything that appeared in my article, all in an effort to motivate people who may be reading.
(NOTE: All emails re-printed with permission from the authors, bolded words my own emphasis…)
January 3, 2008.
“It’s so weird to see these comments about the insane things we are asked to do anymore just to get a crummy paying job. I knew I wasn’t the only one it was happening to for sure but so few say anything about it…it feels kind of validating to see that others find it offensive also.
I spent a couple years in college way back when, I didn’t graduate but I completed the course, if that makes any sense. I needed two more credits to get a diploma but the school wants you to take the whole course over again, naturally; there was no way I was going to do that.
No employer ever questioned me on this point; so even though I listed the course on my resume, I didn’t say I’d graduated, only that I’d taken the course. So I got jobs working with computers, yeah, woo hoo, high tech:)
I have worked in the IT industry for various companies since the early eighties, moving from one to the next for better pay, location or possibilities for the future. These were large companies, the pay and benefits were good, they obviously took some care in their treatment of both employees and customers; I had the impression that I may move on but the outfit would always be around, how naive.
Near the end of the millenium I was downsized twice in relatively short order and have not worked in that field since. The jobs I have been able to find are in call centres where the pay, benefits and working conditions are abominable. One sits tethered to a station equipped with a phone and a computer running an application which may or may not function. You get two fifteen minute breaks, one thirty minute lunch and you’d better log back in on time or be viewed as tardy and a problem child: You know, all those ten second late logins add up…hmmm.
I got downsized the first time from the pc division of Xerox, a company I thought would never go out of business. After we returned from the Xmas break at the end of ’96 we check our voicemail and one msg says, “from the g.m., we’ve sold the company”, more or less thanks for coming out… classy outfit. The company that took over could barely tell a computer from a toaster so that was interesting. It was right around that time that certification had begun;everybody had to be ‘certified’ on everything from hardware to operating systems even though you’d been getting along just fine without. On a smaller scale this fits with what you were saying about the whole education thing;it’s like if you don’t play the game their way then you can’t play any longer. This became a cash cow for the training and certification outfits. Along with this comes the attitude, you know, from those know it all pc people…“I’m certified, are YOU?”; then all jobs you apply for require this certification.
I got let go from the next job, which was one I really liked, in the spring of ’01 and they gave me a payout so I took the rest of the year off. In 2002 I signed up for some microsoft cert courses which were gov’t subsidized, i.e, you get certified while collecting unemployment insurance. The placement guy at the ‘school’ said all their ‘grads’ were working down at teletech, a company I was unfamiliar with. When I started working there I couldn’t believe it…they do phone support for internet/email; becoming ms certified to do that sort of thing is kind of like taking a pre med course to learn how to apply a bandage.
[…] At least two of the people in the training course were grads from 4 yr comp science courses. When we were introducing ourselves the trainer would ooh and ahh about the people with the degrees but nobody ever said anything like “wtf would you be doing working here with that degree?”
So this dump becomes my rude awakening to what you’ve so aptly described in many of your articles. I worked there for 18 long months and was ready to freak near the end of it.
The next company was also a call centre, yes lucky me; after the ubiquitous online app and psych profile. The city I live in had the audacity to accept an award from the chamber of commerce re: employment stats, meanwhile everyone and their dog works at a call centre, sweet:)
The h.r. lady at this place says the interview will be 5 hrs long…yeah and a cattle call to boot. So I went, your sitting there with app. 25 others and now let’s go around the room and introduce ourselves; yeah, let’s. I don’t mind public speaking anymore but I used to and I know that ugly feeling in the pit of your stomach;what better way to put everyone off. The lady running the interview says to this one young kid, “why aren’t you in school?”, the kid is standing up in front of 25 strangers and obviously couldn’t say anything even if he had an answer, and keeps telling him to stop slouching; after 2/3 hrs your bound to start slouching, and who cares anyway…so we have a couple of breaks throughout, after which it is obvious that some have not made the cut, the slouchy kid for example and also another guy to whom interview lady had said in front of everyone, “you haven’t smiled once yet today”, yeah he also did not make it.
The five hour length is not an exaggeration either and not once did they offer refreshments of any description. Unbelievable, yet true…it all seems very twilight zone, or like something from a Hunter Thompson novel. I lasted only a couple months at that place and app 9 months at another call centre. After that I just couldn’t do it anymore. I don’t care if I lose my house, whatever…it’s like in the movie Network where Howard Beale says, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore”. It’s so apropos of what is going on around us today; unaduterated b.s. coming from everywhere coupled with those puppet types who when you broach this subject, look at you as if you’ve completely lost it.
It sure seems like the gloves are off, it’s no holds barred at least from the employer’s standpoint.
So this is where sites like yours and others come in; part of the awakening process. Again, it’s so nice to hear from others who see/feel what is going on and are not content to simply carry on as if nothing is wrong.
I am trying to tune into whatever ‘big giant head’ :)) is out there that will allow me to transcend;focusing on whatever energy will allow you to find your destiny. I appreciate your idea of having people describe their experiences to foster understanding and exchange ideas; if I have any brainstorms I’ll definitely send them along.
take care and good luck”
- Ian
April 30, 2006
“Viva La Revolucion!
Hi Carissa,
Just finished reading your article about working for puppet people and I have a story to share.
My classes finish in about a week and a half, so I am looking for work this summer. I apply to a few different places. Some retail, and one bartending job at a local hotel chain called McMenamins. (I’m not above mentioning names…obviously. lol)
So, McMenamins calls me back after they receive my online resume and ask me to come in for an interview. OK, first bad sign is that they only accept online applications. No human interaction until you get a call from human resources. Second bad sign is…the interview is a ‘cattle-call’ style group interview.
But, I’m desperate to find summer work, starving student style, so I agree, against my intution and standards to go to the cattle-call interview. At the interview, I go from an HR person, to a manager, and finally to the property manager.
They ask a few questions, like…have I ever had an employee complaint? I answer- YES.
Have I ever been terminated from a job? I answer- YES.
I was not in the mood to play ‘puppet person’ for them that day I guess. I even went as far as to describe how I got fired in an anecdotal story. And also described the worst boss I’ve ever had, and also how I got written warnings for being rude to customers on occasion.
I’ll show up to your cattle-call, but I won’t play fakey perfect employee, ok?
Anyways, I’m shocked when I get a call asking me to work for them. Only problem is that they won’t give me a bartending job. They only hire waitresses and then promote them later to bartenders. I’m trying to keep an open mind, so I say OK. I very honestly tell them that I’m a horrible waitress, that I have no flair for it, but I’m a terrific bartender because that is what I’ve been doing for the last five years.
“sorry, we only promote our servers to bartenders.”
Well, I rationalize, maybe there is a good reason for this. Like they want their bartenders to also know the menu real well? I decide to keep an open mind and I accept the position just to see what happens.
So, I show up the next day and I’m given a two hour long introduction/orientation by the manager of the place. We fill out questionaires, alcohol serving tests, rules and regulations forms ect. Two hours of my life go by.
I am told that I need to train for six shifts before I can start work for real. Also, that they pay minimum wage, but they don’t pool their tips, which I guess is good.
I’m worried about waitressing because I understand that the energy of that position is not beneficial. Waitresses are like mobile units that scoot all around the restaurant as they work. They get their energy cut across constantly by people walking around them, they get ripped off all day long. Also, holding heavy trays of food is horrible for your back, and it also drains the energy out of your body through your limbs. Then, there is the dynamic of interacting with the customers. Waitresses have to go to the customer— whereas bartenders do not. Customers come to them, which puts them in a dominant position. Waitresses have to deal with grouchy customers, because people get irritated when they are hungry. There are a million little reasons why the job is too draining energetically for what it pays.
But I decided….maybe I’m just being too picky? Plenty of people waitress and are just fine, right?
So, I show up. My first training day, I am told that I have to memorize all the prices on the entire menu and will be tested on them the next day. If I miss one answer— they send me home. Why exactly am I memorizing prices that are already printed on the menu? No reason. “We just want to see if you are serious about this job or not.”
So, I’m training with an older woman the entire breakfast shift and into lunch my first day. It’s grueling work, worse than any place I’ve worked before. The waitresses serve and they also bus their own tables, bartend, make coffee, clean, expedite, clean the bathrooms, and hostess all in one. For such a huge company, I’m wondering why they don’t hire busboys, barbacks, servers, bartenders, and barristas? Why do they have their servers doing all of this???
I go into the kitchen at one point and I’m told to taste a new soup they made. So, I grab a bowl and as I’m about to ladle some into it the manager says…“just don’t pour yourself a whole bowl of it, ok?” With one of those ‘nice guy’ smiles on his face of course.
I’m thinking….and if I did? What are you going to do about it? Fire me? Force me to regurgitate it?
Anyways, by the end of my 9 hour shift, I’m literally ready to drop. They sit me down and proceed to go over a three page checklist of opening and closing procedures. Also, they give me a two page review…which my trainer fills out.
Was the trainee urgently cleaning and bussing the tables? (NO)
Did the trainee greet every customer with a smile? (YES)
Was the trainee clean and punctual? (YES)
On and on the review went. Finally, the lady stops and then feels the need to explain one more thing: “Here at McMenamins, we’ve made a deal with the IRS, that every employee will report 100% of their tips. Do you agree with this?”
oh…my…god. This was the final straw. McMenamins did what? Made a deal with the IRS? Riiiiight. And I’m the biggest idiot in the world, right?
So, I go home. I fall asleep that night, still unsure of whether or not to quit. I don’t have another job lined up. But I also can’t imagine walking back into that place ever again for work. Five more days of this kind of hell? All night and morning, I have nightmares about this job.
One dream, I show up and I am not allowed to work as a bartender. Everytime I go to do something, someone else runs in and takes my place. No room! Sorry!
The next dream, I’m working at a bar with every single bad boss I’ve ever had in my life. (Walter, the Columbian guy who tried to get sexual favors from me after work. Scott who had me ordered off the premesis of a job because he flew into a cocaine induced temper tantrum.) It was like a party of all the biggest asshole bosses I’ve ever had to work for.
Next dream, I’m calling and quitting my job at McMenamins only to get disconnected in the middle of the phone call.
I wake up, bolt out of bed, grab the phone and call the manager. “Sorry, but I won’t be coming in ever again. I won’t take a job as a server, when i don’t enjoy serving. Also, your training program is like boot camp. I could also be making the same amount of money elsewhere with less hassle involved.”
Felt so good.
Next day, I apply, just for fun at a local winery. Got the job, hired by a human person, not a cattle call interview, or online application. Offered a decent salary. The staff is small and cozy.
And the lesson is: don’t settle for working for puppet people unless there is a damn good reason to. Like you want to learn something specific and then quit right away. Listen to the warning signs. If it feels like a rip off— it is a rip off. If they make you jump through hoops in the beginning, they will continue to do so forever and ever. Whatever you are willing to put up with in the beginning of the negotiations, will be what you will be putting up with for the rest of your days there.
Jobs are like marriages. The rules get set in the beginning, and then they stick like glue. The first experience you have at a job will be the blueprint for the rest of your experiences there.
Have trust. Don’t be afraid to jump. It will all fall into place for you, if you stick to your guns.
Ok, that’s my piece.
Thanks for letting me rant.”
- Amber
April 27, 2006
Carissa,
I just finished reading your article “working for the puppet people” on montalk.net and thought I would share some thoughts with you about economics and college degrees.
You mention that more and more low paying jobs require college degrees these days. I have even seen job postings where “bachelor’s degree or higher” was listed as a qualification. Not even “in a related field.” They want you to have a college degree and don’t care what it’s in. You point out that having a college degree represents the willingness of the applicant to subject him or herself to the system, to spend a great deal of time doing menial work, to buy into the whole trip of our society. But it represents something else also intimately related to the ideas you discuss.
Not only is it becoming increasingly mandatory for people to have college degrees, it’s becoming a lot more expensive. When the University of California was established the government planned it as a free system, like the colleges in France and some other European countries. Over the years tuition costs have risen to about $7,000 a year for California residents and $20,000 a year for non-residents. But that overlooks all the associated costs of attending college. Construction of new dorms doesn’t keep pace with enrollment at most US universities, so the majority of college students live in the surrounding communities. As a result, the cost of living in those areas swells as landlords exploit a population compelled to live there. More and more college students need cars to get to school, a further cost.
One of the main reasons that construction of dorms doesn’t keep up with growing enrollment is that more and more of the funds for universities come from the “industry,” i.e. the illuminati-controlled multinational conglomerates. The same people who end up employing and hence slowly paying off the debts of the college students.
There’s a very neatly constructed web here. To be able to get a well-paying job, you need a college degree. To get a college degree, you need a lot of money. That means you have parents wealthy enough to bankroll a $20-40k a year expenditure — if this is the case then your parents are probably already in a huge amount of debt — or if you don’t, you are going to have to take out student loans. Credit card and cellphone companies actively attempt to recruit students.
All these things amount to an active attempt by Visa and the other banking monopolies to ensure no one enters the “skilled” workforce without having amassed a huge debt, and, through their accumulated credit cards, the potential to amass even more debt. Equally important, attending college creates a huge paper trail within the information collection industy: college transcripts, rental agreements, credit applications, cellphone records…
One of the primary goals of the iluminati/NWO/network/whatever is to ensure that everyone in society lives in a situation of perceived scarcity, for exactly the reasons you mention: it keeps them “on the team,” willing to do whatever the herd dictates, because they are afraid of losing their comfort zone. I used to live near a marine base and I can’t begin to tell you how many people I heard say they supported the war in Iraq even though they believed it was totally economically motivated. “our oil has to come from somewhere,” a barber said to me. But if the war was really about securing US oil interests, then why is the price of gas still going up? obviously because the war is really about keeping us scared, maintaining the illusion of scarcity, convincing us that the only way to avoid total disaster is to keep ourselves shackled to the slave machine.
What’s really going on in the current political and financial situation is that the world is evolving towards a totalitarian, quasi-socialist economy. Meaning that since monopolies own and control everything, money doesn’t actually circulate. The banking conglomerates lend money to students to go to school, to workers to buy houses, to CFOs to finance companies. Companies use money borrowed from the banking system to pay their employees, who use the money to pay back the banking companies. No money actually circulates, because the “destination” is the same as the “source.” But by maintaining the illusion of a capitalist economy, and especially through the institution of “interest,” the banking companies/illuminati ensure their stranglehood on society. They ensure that everyone will continue working as hard as they can to pay off a “debt” which actually exceeds any existing available wealth. And they ensure that we all go on living in a state of panic, worrying every day that the bank will take away our house, our car, the food with which we feed our families. Our whole economy is an illusion, an elaborate dog and pony show in which it appears that hardwork leads to success, fortunes are made and lost, and humanity struggles endlessly against the forces of entropy. But it’s all just a show, the whole thing is fixed from the start. The unfortunate part is that for many people, their part in the show is dying.
Hope my thoughts are of interest to you.
-best, nick
Side note from Carissa: I enjoyed reading Nick’s email and especially liked the points concerning how the sources who are funding the universities are the same sources who in turn hire on the graduates, paying their low wages, and thus completing the circle, or web; also particularly enjoyed the points about how The Powers That Be (TPTB) want people to live with the attitude of perceived scarcity, keeping them in the pen. It’s all so true, unfortunately.
His email reminded me of some points regarding college that I’ve had tossing around in my mind but didn’t elaborate on in this article, which was the double edged sword of college – the whole, “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” stuck between a rock and a hard place situation.
On the one hand, TPTB have many believing that in order to make it in this society, and to pull yourself out of your “circumstances”, then you need to go to college, otherwise, you’re never going to amount to anything. And “they” love to hold up examples of life’s failures to really hammer this point home. We’ve all seen the interviews and stories regarding people who are struggling as low wage earning blue collar employees because, according the article or story, “they didn’t go to college.” Never mind all the people, myself included, who didn’t go to college either…but are doing just fine. What these stories fail to point out is that these examples aren’t failing in life “because they didn’t go to college” but rather, it’s because often times they wound up having kids that they couldn’t afford. Bottom line. Also, to be frank, many times these people are lacking the initiative and ambition, smarts, and personality savvy. If you’re going to make it in this world without a degree, then those aforementioned traits can get you very far and make up for things. I’ve worked alongside many people over the years who didn’t have degrees, but also lacked these very important traits, and that’s what was helping to keep them down in life. And conversely I’ve worked alongside people with “only” a high school diploma who managed to go pretty far due to their high energy personality and intelligence. I myself didn’t go to college, yet I’ve carved out quite a nice niche for myself working as a temp. My trick? Most important is that I don’t have many of financial burdens bogging down others in life. I don’t have kids. It’s just me. My car was purchased used, so there’s no car payments, I don’t have a back breaking mortgage payment, and I have no credit cards, or credit card debt to pay off.
And on the other hand – college graduates may land themselves a higher paying job after graduation versus a non-graduate, BUT…they have their student loans to pay off for years afterwards, AND all that accumulated debt, as well as the new debt they’re amassing once they’re out in the world on their own two feet for the first time. So while they technically have that higher paying job, in the end, they’re netting about the same as what I would per month! There have been times over the past few years where, after my monthly expenses were all paid, I was left with anywhere from $500 to – and yes, this is going to sound outrageous, but – $1,300 per month. As a non-college graduate administrative assistant temp employee. It’s amazing what making $11 – 13 per hour with no kids and low monthly overhead can get you in life. For me, not going to college was the best thing I could have done. It may not be for everybody, and certainly some are here to do something with their lives that may require a degree, but I know that I’ve done well, and it flies in the face of everything “they” are telling us. It doesn’t have to be the way they’re telling us it is. People choose to buy into things though, unfortunately.
I’d like to post excerpts from an editorial letter that was written to The Daily Progress newspaper of Charlottesville (VA), and it’s titled “College Education Was a Waste of Time” by James E. Shifflett, Jr. of Charlottesville:
“In regard to the Aug. 23 article on the front page of the The Daily Progress, concerning college board test and the desire to get into college (“Students awaiting, dreading new SAT”).
Consider school like an investment and you will realize that school does not pay….A good education means job security? I graduated with high honors at the top of my engineering department from a top-50 school, and I could not get a job! A recent news magazine said that the average engineer makes $60,000 a year. I know very few engineers who make more than $40,000 per year.
I am not an isolated case; thousands and thousands of professionals have experienced the same. In the meantime, the federal and state governments are paying high school graduates executive salaries!
The next time your parents tell you to study hard so you can get a good job, tell them to drop dead. If they scream, throw this letter in their faces.”
A bit harsh, sure ;) but, interesting nonetheless…
April 21, 2006
Super article Carissa!
I don’t have a big success story yet of how I made the transition away from the synthetic society you describe. This is still a work in progress for me, but the path is becoming more clear. For me it includes:
(* We need to use different terms for these people. They are not illuminated. Spiritually they are clueless.)
You mentioned overcoming fear related to money. I think it starts with an understanding of how the currency and banking scams are operated. Thankfully, we have many exposes online about this and how the federal reserve ripoff was engineered in the early 20th century.
I think of US currency as just paper. I look at it and sometimes am amazed that it is accepted in exchange for valuables. It’s convenient for exchange for now, but might be worthless bits of paper in two months.
I’m looking forward to reading Urban Nomad’s write-up of how he and his family withdrew from mainstream society and created a life more in alignment with their values.
- Anonymous
January 26, 2006
Hey Carissa, I just finished reading your article “Working for the Puppet People”. I have been ranting in my head about this very thing for years. Although personally, I have only experienced it once in my life since I have been lucky to have been mostly a stay at home mom….At one point in time just before the birth of my third and I was lucky to find myself working for a privately owned video business in upstate NY. The owner had five other video stores in NH and Vermont, and they were very successful stores. Why I said I was lucky is because although I was making about $6 and hour, I still had sick pay, benefits, profit sharing and we bartered with other local businesses so there was plenty of perks and I was only working part time. The owner gave us bonuses 3 times a year based on how well our store did. We were able to go to the local movie theatre for free and the theatre employees received free video rentals. We were treated with respect, and appreciation. Can you imagine anything like that nowadays? Unfortunately, it only lasted 4yrs for me because the good guy sold out to Blockbuster. All of a sudden I was being asked to give a sample of my hair, sign a piece of paper that said if I came up with any ideas that could be patented to pertain to the video industry that they BELONGED to Blockbuster Video, not me! They took away all barters, there certainly was no profit sharing. We had to do things THEIR way even though the reason our stores were successful because of our great customer service (they took that away too, to hell with the customer!) What an insult! I put up a big fuss about the hair thing (drug test) but finally gave in because they thought I was hiding something, but it truly was a matter of principle to me. I only stayed on for about another six months because I became pregnant with my third child and they wouldn’t let me have a chair to sit on at the register or at least give me a couple more breaks (hey I was 38 at the time, I had a hard time standing there for 8hrs even when I wasn’t pregnant!)
I have watched my oldest daughter struggle thru college after she was married, had a baby and worked a job. She graduated from *** in 2000, is now trying to pay off school loans. It took her a year to find a job (at *** ) that you don’t need a degree for (hers is History, and she realized that she didn’t want to teach, not much use for a History degree!!) and although she’s now making pretty decent money, she is constantly stressed because she has two small kids and her and her husband have a huge mortgage and 3 cars!! So I sent her your article. Then there is my 22 yr old son. He hasn’t gone to college, and he works for a surveyor. Now he makes okay money, and the man he works for is very good to him, yet he stresses because he thinks he’s not doing enough. He sees his other friends going to college, which mommy and daddy pay for, give them cars, money, and here he is struggling to make sense of it all, I keep trying to tell him that he is so much better off than they are. He’s already got the survival thing down and he’s not working for some corp. that pays him the same he’s making now but makes him work twice as hard for it. Our world is designed to make somebody like him feel worthless even though he rents a decent house (actually, I think it’s a cute house!) with his friends, he has a car, and is able to do some things that he enjoys, and pay his bills. But everybody keeps pushing him towards that college thing and the wife and the house and all that good stuff. My husband works for a huge media corp. (he’s in radio, you can probably guess which one) although for the 25yrs he’s been in the business, he’s mostly worked for privately owned radio stations which are pretty non-existent now. He doesn’t have a college education, but as I said he has been in the business for 25yrs and has made a good name for himself. He laughs at all the corp. crap that goes on, he’s amazed at all the people over him that know nothing about the business but they make 3 times as much as he does, just because they have a degree (no doubt liberal arts). He manages to hang in there though he hates it most the time. (He calls it the “evil empire”) He has his own side business in voice overs that is doing pretty good, but he just wont take that leap! I work part time as a pastry chef with my friend up the street, we sell high end wedding cakes, she has a commercial kitchen in her house. I get strange looks when people find out we only have one car! How many cars do people need? It can be inconvenient for me at times, but somehow I always manage to get where I need to (I’m hoping that is the sychronicity working in my life!) go.
Anyways, I have watched many people go thru “Puppet People Hell”, and couldn’t understand why more people didn’t just say “no way”. It’s a very lonely place watching the people around you “sleeping” and thinking everything is rosy. They bitch about it but wont do anything because of what others might think. I am surrounded in my neighborhood with Republican Southern Baptists and a sociopath across the street…the Matrix is working overtime on me! Anyways, I have enjoyed reading all that you have written, find it very informative and have passed it on hoping somebody will read it and start waking up. Keep the articles coming!
- Vicki
October 5, 2005
I just want to say — excellent artical! My name is Dale. Anyway… this is my personal story — I’ll keep it short but you’ll see how it is proof that your artical is on the right lines!
Basically, I was in a 9-5 job. Was a “good’ job from a puppet point of view, the kind of job that makes your parents happy. I was a graphic designer for a large insurance company.
Anyway, my real passion had always been music and I had had minor sucsess in the past as a producer. However, I found it hard to manage music AND work (too draining) so one of them had to take a back seat. I had (and still have) a young family too and I had to provide for them , so I kind of ‘resigned’ myself to sticking with the stability of the day job — even though it caused a little bit of saddness in my heart as it was my dream.
Every appraisal time I would hate it, every meeting I would hate, dressing in a suit I hated. It simply WAS NOT ME. All my life I have had reoccuring dreams of standing up in the middle of ‘important’ meetings and flying out of the window. I think I have always known that I should be ‘free’ and not a… puppet.
Anyway. I kind of prayed inside myself for a way to still achieve my dreams, and to be my own boss — hopefully doing music full time. The problem is, I simply could not even see a way out. I had no extra money, we lived ‘hand to mouth’ so to speak. I could not justify to anybody just ‘quitting’ my job and waiting for the universe to put out the ‘safety net’. The truth of course is that I was too scared to do that. The risk was too great — family to feed etc. “what if the universe WONT help me” ? Etc. I doubted too much.
However, the seed was planted — the desire to ‘get out’. And I really prayed deeply that somehow, someway, something would happen to help me. I knew what I WANTED — I wanted to jump of that cliff…and guess what the universe sent me? — a little push.
Basically I was made redundant! I had been there 9 years and recieved a whole wadge of money !!!!! I didn’t even consider this possibilty, but it happened!
Although everybody around me was really depressed about it (losing their safety) I was over the moon! I had my ‘way’ !!!!
Now, I didn’t expect things to be THAT easy, and I was right.. because another company decided to offer our team a job. I was offered a choice — redundancy or working for this new company. Everybody thought the ‘wise’ (lol) choice was to join the safe new company. But I didn’t … I took the ‘risk’ on my dream. I took the redundency money and decided to give the music career a go.
Within DAYS of making that choice SO many things fell into place. It was litterally amazing — miraculous. For instance, I needed a studio — and a friend ‘happened’ to mention that he had built a studio in his house filled with equipment that wasn’t getting used! I am now working round there 5 days a week.
I also got an email from an old friend who had started up a record company that were doing very very well! I am now on their books as a producer and have made 3 songs that are attracting lots of interest from some major labels! (check out www.audio-freaks.co.uk=)
Bearing in mind that I was made redudant in July, all this has happened in 3 months! It is totally amazing!!!!
I am obviously ‘meeting the universe half way’ in that I am putting lots of effort into the ‘work’ but I am loving it, and feel — for the first time in my life — that I have found my work place in life. What is better is that I really feel I have helped create this reality myself.
Just thought I’d share that with you, and I’ll keep you updated with the story if things go any further. One day I hope to make a book (or something) sharing the story with others, to inspire them…
OK
Take care
- DALE
October 5, 2005
Great job on the article. Quite often in my interactions with people outside my usual “circle” I find myself wondering, “Do we even exist in the same world? Are we both witnessing the same things?” And I hate to have that attitude (“Why don’t you think like me?”), but the old gut feelings are just too strong to go against. My dad calls it your “guardian angel.”
But about the actualization and synchronicity phenomena…
I worked for two years at a pizza place in a small town with quite a few of my friends, and actually made pretty good money. The owner, who also happened to be a radiologist, would often say that if he knew how much money pizza drivers made, he would have opted for that instead of giving barium enemas and everything else. But I got to spend time with friends, and we all had a good time, talking and feeding people. I only worked part time, but spent most of my time with my twin daughters. Which I felt was worthwhile: Why pay someone hundreds of dollars a month to raise my kids for me when I can do it myself? No 9 to 5 commuter’s stress, no worrying about the other side of the nanny, just me and the kids and the occasional pizza pie.
This, admittedly, isn’t the ideal situation for raising kids, but being a single father I did what I felt was right. I eventually began looking for other jobs and went to work at UPS washing the trucks, with the idea that I would eventually do some driving, etc. to make a little extra money. Not even a month after working there, I wound up in the hospital for about four days just before the end of the year, and my boss told me that I was effectively laid-off. No health insurance, no bank account, no paychecks. I was lucky enough to be eligible for Medicaid, and didn’t have to see what I’m assuming would have been tens of thousands of dollars in medical expenses, which in itself is a total farce.
“Your body fails ya? Wanna live? How much money ya got?”
Anyway, after I got out of the hospital, and after my two week convalescing period I went back to UPS for exactly one day. When I got back to work I talked to the supervisor about the posssibility of transferring to another job there, which he informed me was in fact an impossibility. I told him that I needed to make a little more money, and get insurance and all that (which is arguably irrelevant). His response:
“You knew what you were getting into. I don’t care what we told you before, you don’t like it you can leave. We’ll have you replaced tomorrow.”
Those were his exact words. We’ll have you replaced tomorrow.
Needless to say, I left that night.
But another job soon fell into my lap, which is where I find myself now. Working for a lawyer, which isn’t exactly my idea of fun, but in defense I will say that they “only” charge $110 an hour, and practice municipal law and estate planning. I’m still trying to figure out what exactly their relationship is to the developers we deal with, whether they try to limit their ambitions or simply make concessions. But law and lawyers are, apparently, intentionally convoluted and vague.
But me and a few of my friends are still trying to formulate a plan to “live off the grid,” as it were. The other response to this article from “Urban Nomad” is quite encouraging. Lately I’ve been mysteriously drawn to Pennsylvania and the Alleghany Mountain region. Dunno.
Well, I’ve written more than I planned to, and actually got a little off topic. Thanks again for the excellent article.
- Phil
September 30, 2005
In response to your article, Working for the Puppet People … and finding a way out, I APPLAUD!
I have two weeks of work remaining with an employer of thirteen years and a career in construction project (chaos) management of twenty-two years. I made the decision to move on over two years ago which was partially responsible for my second divorce. Meeting a wonderful artist with eclectic nonconforming ways this spring provided the vector I grasped to finally commence my transition. I will be propelling into photography, creative and technical writing with a fall back to computer programming independently, if necessary.
I have never been this extended on the limb and yet intuition indicates I’ll do fine. The systems are systemic with multitudes of webs to entrap, such as my child support payments, COBRA medical payments and the unceasing taxation we all encounter.
I waffle on the manifestation from intent premise and wondered some about my own circumstances while musing your missive. Earlier this month, I experienced a near complete loss of all my possessions as my apartment was engulfed in flames from a candle left burning overnight in the unit below mine (picture of the flashover enclosed). Fortunately, I was awake and a past volunteer fireman so I assisted in obtaining help promptly and we were able to get all the slumbering folks awakened and out without injury. In looking at this incident, beyond some purification by fire, it seems to have lightened me further of the hold our possessions maintain and refocus on the potential of people, and myself.
I intend to use some of the resources I am extracting from the system to promote artists and independent entrepreneurs with my photography. I am interested in building a portfolio of new paradigm participants engaged in innovative activities and pursuits. I will have a website up soon to facilitate this, and for now offer my e-mail (jfry@comcast.net) to anyone who may seek digital image work. I will be available to travel and provide quality digital files and prints up to 19” AT NO COST for select interesting projects supporting my portfolio.
—Jim Fry
jfry@comcast.net
September 30, 2005
I was in my second year of seminary when I began researching this popularized phenomena called “globalization.” At the time I was 45 years old, and had been working as a project manager in industrial construction. For years, I witnessed how the corporate world became an unrealistic, inhospitable rat-race. But like you, Carissa, I felt like an alien in the work world because most of my co-workers blindly accepted the unreasonable demands without a word of protest; in fact, they didn’t even question their plight or the system under which they labored. I felt that the answer to this dilemma (my dilemma) was a spiritual one, so I entered seminary. Seminary was a wonderful growth experience for me, but I found that the Evangelical Church was in lock-step with George Bush and his lies. Talk about deception! All of these big name, born-again Christians (Jerry Falwell, Billy Graham, Charles Schuler, et.al.) were endorsing Bush, yet totally unable to see through the huge deception that Bush and his cabal had foisted on this country. Something was definitely wrong. There were dangerous parallels at work, here, and similar to the German clergy’s unquestioning support of Hitler when he rose to power in the 1930’s.
I began preaching sermons that called into account our unbridled materialism and destructive consumerism. I was preaching to deaf ears. I was saddened, and decided not to go into the ministry…The more I researched topics that were labeled as “conspiracy,” I found that these so-called fringe theories were a closer representation of the truth versus the mainstream nonsense that we are fed on the television.
From my observations, Carissa, I find that the majority of Americans are oblivious to the dangers that will befall them. I think it’s safe to say that we are living under a system that will surely implode within the next few years. For those who are members of “Catacomb Culture,” the best thing that we can do is prepare for some enormous upheavals in the coming years. I have begun networking with folks and sharing ideas about “where do we go from here?” You provided a link to a website called “Overcoming Consumerism.” That website was a gold mine of information, and full of practical insights. This is the kind of information that will be of great assistance in the ensuing years. I guess it’s like saying, “Okay, I know that I probably won’t be able to afford heating oil in the next few years, so teach me how to build a fire and how to maintain it safely.”……We’re now living in the remotest part of Pennsylvania. We live in a little town nestled in the Allegheny Mountains. We bought a home along the Susquehanna River, cash, for $18,000, and have property taxes that are less a $1,000 per year. We’ve cut back on our consumption and are just beginning to live simpler, healthier lives……We’re still getting settled up here. My mother left the rat race of the city and moved up here as well. She’s an artist, and I just finished building an art studio for her. My wife, Joan, has immersed herself in sewing and crocheting. (She makes gifts for people instead of buying them.) Carissa, when I finish up with my building and remodeling over the course of the next month, I would like to pass on some specific details as to what we did in escaping the rat race. We are making due on less money, and what we find is that we have more time to do things that we want to do: this, in our view, is what the quality of life is all about, having the time to enjoy nature and pursuing creative interests. The consumer world is one of distraction and aimlessness. It’s no wonder that people remain asleep for the entirety of their existence on earth…
— Urban Nomad
[note from Carissa – Several people have expressed an interest to me in hearing the follow up to Urban Nomad’s story. I contacted him to let him know, and he wrote back saying he would send something along but hasn’t in the 2 years since first contacting me. I think I even contacted him again months after emailing him to give him a nudge, but again, nothing was ever sent. Which is a shame, as his email really piqued people’s interest…..]
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