“Fired with Enthusiasm”
I’ve been ruminating.
Not something I do very often, I tend to just…er…do it, or churn it out or blurt it out. But this morning I’ve been ruminating. I’ve been pondering on my professional achievements and chewing over what I have left the advertising industry after 46 years of loyal service, fun and expense account abuse.
This week we entered a New Year. A year that bodes ill for freelancers like me. I’m approaching 63 (June 15th. If you want to send a card.) And the chances of finding regular employment other than School Crossing Granddad or delivering meals to people a little older than I are very slim. Freelance still turns up from time to time and for that I am grateful. And I am also extremely grateful that it turns up by e-mail so I don’t have to embarrass my clients by turning up at meetings run by a bunch thirty year olds. I just send in my contribution electronically and get paid.
Today, I started a clear out. Do I need those showreels, slides, videos, audiotapes? Christ, if I turned up at an ad agency today they wouldn’t know what to do with them. What about the big black art bag with international ad campaigns mounted on black card and collated in a ring binder with transparent pages? The work still looks good, but the transparent pages have suffered from the heat and damp, and it smells a bit.
Today was the day to start chucking out. I binned the lot. And that’s when the ruminating started, not morose ruminating, just a cheerful, nonchalant ruminating. I noticed a small crumpled piece of paper that had missed the bin and I picked it up, only because I could see that something had been highlighted. It was part of my CV and there were three words that I would like to think describe my career perfectly. “Fired with enthusiasm.” Probably the only kosher statement in the whole CV.
I have been fired from every job I ever had. And the management always fired me enthusiastically.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
I would rather be fired with enthusiasm than fired for being late - which in cryptic crossword terms means ” cremated ” !!
January 10th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Freelancers make better employees…we have to try harder because we’re only as good as our last job. So, congratulations on being fired from every job you ever had…you obviously did something right !!