There are many grounds on which in the past year of my life I chose to live away from people, with only a select few being allowed in the inner circle. The quantity and quality of reasons why I reject the idea of traditional employment are even spicier.
These motives vary tremendously, but I think I could bring out a few. They can be personal or professional.
So, personal.
Many people lie to appear more interesting. That’s ok. I mean, people should be in charge of the image they put out there. But, guys, be consistent. At least try to remember the lies you told.
Then, even more people have a very “simple” way of thinking. I would call it “straight-over processing”. They skip all the facts and jump to conclusions. They are uninformed, unwilling to be informed, they have outrageous conclusions and statements based on … their breakfast cereal. In this category, we have the “stereotype view”. They apply some random notions, again, without any real knowledge, to people and situations. Ah, and of course, you have to love those who make endless assumptions but never bother to check facts. This comes from extreme stupidity or plain evilness. Or both.
Of course, most of them would say they don’t do such things, which brings me to the most annoying thing off all: not admitting to being wrong, not doing anything about it or worse, going berserk on the person pointing out the error of their ways.
When someone tells me I am wrong, I ask “why?” or “how?” and I listen to that answer and take the appropriate action – counter-argument if they are wrong or I find a way to “fix” myself the best I can.
There is another thing that bugs me a little, but this one I learned to ignore. The manipulators. I absolutely despise those who try to manipulate others and do a bad job at it. Seriously, guys, if you want to play games like that, make sure the one you are trying to deceive is as dumb as you presume and preferably dumber than you.
Now, in my defense, I do have a friend that does all of the above. But she is has mental health issues, clinical. She was institutionalized. So I can’t really hold that against her or stop considering her a friend, just because she got sick. But the rest… pfff, spare me or get a medical certificate and treatment.
These are just a few of the things why the number of people I call “friends” has diminished to very low levels.
Now, let’s move to the professional part. I CHOOSE to be a freelancer. I DON’T WANT traditional employment. Why?
Well, from experience, I can tell you that in many cases the office will have a very well developed gossip culture (completely counter-productive and annoying habit), and they aren’t untouchable when it comes to the above mentioned “plagues”. And the “bosses”?! Ooooh, don’t get me started. Actually, no, let me get on and rant about them.
They are the one of the dumbest categories out there. They somehow get at the top. I guess it’s by using the above mentioned “qualities” on people who can’t or won’t see through them. Don’t get me wrong. Not ALL managers are like that… I speak from personal experience, and in that experience from the 7 work places I had, 6 turned out to have the “rotten apples”. The seventh was awesome, but I was (very) stupid and probably unfit for the job now that I think of it. Anyway, moving on.
During my history of traditional employment, I had the pleasure of having “managers” with one or more of the following “qualities”:
- control freak;
- incompetent;
- socially challenged;
- wanna-be stellar manipulator;
- clinically insane but undiagnosed;
- raging always PMS-ing bitch (man or woman).
Imagine a person that has 5/6 traits. Wouldn’t they be sweet to work with?!
You have to love people who become bosses in a field they don’t know the first thing about, make decisions based on personal beliefs and those breakfast bowls of cereal – not efficiency, experience, etc. You must love the type of boss that says “call if” and when you call they NEVER answer and to top it, they call you back hours later (if ever). You also must love those who take days to answer emails on current issues/problems/projects.
Then you must also love those who always pull your chain about not being good enough for a job, but, funny enough, they rely on you to fix their mistakes or to prevent them from making mistakes. You also must absolutely adore those who believe they can do everything by themselves, and do it well, when every damn day in their life shows them the opposite.
You also must love those who keep you down, treat you like shit, until the day you finally decide to put all your stuff in a box and hand in your resignation, effective immediately. They come and say: “You can’t go like this, you have to stay the legally required period after you resign”. To that I reply: “Oh, really? If I don’t, what? Is your company soooo legally fine that you can afford an investigation?” (By the way, with this kind of manager, they never are, they always slip somewhere.) If you were right to feel treated like crap and if your assessment about your boss was also right (meaning: it’s not just you being a bitch), they might pop an offer to raise your pay and god knows what else to keep you. These circumstances are rare. Because they are also proud in their stupidity and incompetence and would rarely, if ever, admit they were wrong. However, it doesn’t take long for such people to fail so big that they would be replaced or worse, the company crumbles.
Here’s an example. I was working for a company that had two businesses. One was a fast-food restaurant, the other – spare parts for cars and trucks (weird combo, imo). I was hired as a secretary for the fast food bit. But I ended up working fast-food office delivery promotion and sales. Fine with me. Work is work, I wasn’t completely clueless, so I went ahead with it. Within a month, I doubled the number of clients (all huge companies). The boss was so happy he gave me a bonus of 33% of my salary. Guess what led to my resignation? Well, first there was the lack of contract, which was really annoying, but I figured that would be solved somehow (declare my income independently and pay tax). But then, the damn idiot started losing my clients, because he wasn’t willing to invest in better quality packaging and the damn food would scatter out of the pack by the time it reached the hungry client. One time they delivered soup, but the fucking recipient EXPLODED because it had no holes to evacuate steam and relieve the pressure inside the container… I pointed it out. He said he had no money because he was directing all the money to the other business which wasn’t even working (and that stuff was illegal, at least in the way he was doing it). Then he came with a brilliant idea… “Why don’t you work as a collaborator and get paid with 10 percent of food sales”. Under normal circumstances I would have jumped with joy because I knew I could pull some insane sales, but in this case he was funny, eh, considering he was losing my clients at the speed of light… Less then a year later, I passed by the place where the food was being made for delivery. Guess what? It was shut down 
That just made my tummy all tingly and I felt a fuzziness overwhelm me. I wasn’t happy that it closed down. I was happy that I was right, which doesn’t happen too often on big, potentially life changing things. 
You see why freelancing is a better idea? Some of these things are just … I don’t even have the right word for it. They could drive a person to the point where they just crack and become a violent murderer – you know, boots in the face, bat on the back, smashing until that damn jerk/bitch is jelly on the floor. So, it’s healthier and better for everyone if I stay away. I love whatever is left of my sanity, you know?
Now, in freelancing the situation is different. Of course, you can get unlucky, but so far I haven’t. You get hired to do a specific job and that’s what you do (not hired as secretary but working PR, sales, damage control). You have specific requirements. You have clear guidelines and deadlines. You get paid for ALL your work, but not more, unless your client really loves you and gives you a bonus. Of course there are disadvantages to it as well, but if you set your heart on being an independent provider, you can find ways to prevent stuff like not having work for a long time or not getting paid. There is also no slacking allowed and the work load if obviously higher than in a regular office job if you aim to make the same kind of money, since you only get paid for what you work not for the coffee breaks and socializing with colleagues.
But overall, the deal is much sweeter. You keep your wits about you, you get paid, you do what you like, you know what you’re getting into, payment is faster and the agreed amount, you have the freedom to set your own schedule and you have no work-related expenses most times. This last bit applies more or less, depends on the jobs you do. Granted, it takes some time to get the big bucks (or even good bucks), but long term, it’s good and getting better. Plus, think about the CV 
You get to do more than one type of job.
For instance, as an editor for a small newspaper you get to participate in event organization, you translate, you copy edit, you research and write, you proofread, you do editorial management for your area/section. All these appear in your CV with the title “Editor” and maybe in the description of the job (if anyone bothers to read it). If you would do those things as a freelancer, you would get 4-6 job titles, which can be proven, and the money for them as well (probably more than one of those idiot managers would pay you). You get to work with more than one company. At the start, you’ll work with the small ones. But as you build a varied portfolio, you gain experience and exposure, you might just catch a big fish one day (Have you seen “The Ghostwriter” ?). In a company or institution your professional ascension is limited by internal norms. In freelance, it’s your foot on the gas pedal. The quantity and quality of your work will recommend you to new heights. You can freelance on writing, translation, editing, programming, as an electrician, computer fixer, product tester… The possibilities are huge. Plus, I really think that for many professions, freelancing will be the norm (writing, photography, translation).
When it comes to personal life, it’s a bit tougher as a freelancer. As I said, you must work much more. It’s also a loner’s job most times. But then again, I take the peace of my own home anytime over gossiping colleagues and hysterical managers Interacting with people becomes a CHOICE not a SOCIAL OBLIGATION.
Denmark
