Meaningless Flex
Author: Derrick Croswell
Published: May 16, 2024
Yesterday on (May 15th, 2024) I went ahead and got the Shure-MV7+, which is one of the industry best microphones for podcasts, streaming, recording,
Pretty much anything related to the content creation of media arts.
In the moment and for about an hour after I made the purchase, I was proud of myself for this, because I did want this device for quite a long time (I'd probably say at least 2 years since I've done research on it).
What took me so long to get it? Life got in the way.
A wrongful termination from employment in August of 2022, and 19 months of employment instability later, and this put me here in March 2024.
At that time, I developed a system of consistency; which is a plan to work as many consecutive days as possible until I was able to get myself to a point to where I felt confident again
In what was generating income for myself.
And today, that day has finally come. I got my confidence back in my ability to generate income for myself - which was something that was meritoriously taken away from me through the force of attrition
On that day on August 1, 2022.
Let me tell you what this period of time has been like for me in terms of the demons I've had to endure.
That was the first time that I've ever been terminated from a job - and this was a BIG deal for me, because of my age (I'm currently 41 years old).
I've always prided myself on doing the best that I can with whatever I've been given in life, because I've always known that nothing in life is guaranteed or promised to me.
So throughout my 23 years of a so-called professional life,
I've always made plans around a graceful exit from jobs under my terms. Resigning from previous positions (of course with prior notice) was the professional thing to do.
The point of this was that I didn't want the company holding the bag of trying to find a new person to replace me. In other words, I really cared about the companies that hired me in the past.
So being terminated was never in my plans (or so I've thought).
This was a novel feeling for me, because at that point, I didn't know what to do to make sense of what was going on; and I really didn't know in that moment how I was going to turn this around.
Over the 19 months of that employment instability, I was able to takeaway some really critical realizations about careers and it's relative place in life that I want to share.
First, companies in general don't care about your future, the work that you've done for them, or the positive energy you bring to the table.
- Which leads to the second truth that I've learned through this experience:
Two - companies will lie to you to get what they want, even if it's unethical, morally disparaging, and socially shameful.
- And lastly:
Three - all it takes is for one bad day for the employer/manager/supervisor/or principal, and your life will be put through literal hell.
Now that's too much power for any one company to have over the course of my life.
My struggle also shines a bigger light on what's going on with the economy in general.
What happened to me in 2022 wasn't a unique experience overall, because I'm not the only one that this has happened to.
Millions of other people have been financially displaced at some point in their lives - but it's the timing of when it happens that has the most impact.
Also now in 2024, it's a thing that there are two perspectives of the job market - what the media tells us, and reality.
Reality is that there is a hiring freeze going on, and this hiring freeze falls in line with the Federal Funds Rate.
When the Federal Funds Rate is high, companies can't borrow money, and when they can't borrow money - they can't hire people.
This is to show that company expansion that's based on credit or debt is a loaded gun for employees.
What this does is creates a scenario in where the employee's tenure is directly tied to the amount of profit that the company generates - EVEN if the employee doesn't directly affect sales.
Remember - sales is a separate department of any company - but if revenues are slipping, then that eats into a company's profit margin. This is what gives these managers the "green light"
To trim the fat so to speak.
The smoking gun aren't the employees that are just trying to make money in order to live. No it's not that.
It's the Ops. Operations Management is the single source of all of this pain regular people face when being laid off happens.
Poor management! This is what poor management is.
So to close this audio recording, for any people that are going through tough times - I want to let you know that there is a way out of this. If you need guidance on this, feel free to email me,
My email is in the description, and in the about section.
But the abridged version of that conversation will sound something like this - self-employment, or building your own business is the way out.
Now if those two things aren't an option for you at the moment, then please - please - PLEASE - invest in yourself.
Do self-learning courses, get certified, and always be looking for a better option than where you're currently at. You can't let a company be your only option these days, because companies don't care about us.
I know it sucks that relationships are transactional now - but since we can't change how society works, we need to focus on our own system, on what we can control.
The things that you overcome in life is not a meaningless flex. Those struggles took away the one thing that you can't get back, which is periods of your life. The possessions you received in return is no compensation.
Take care.