Welcome to Gypsy Wednesday! Every Wednesday, I strive to highlight all the juicy morsels related to travel and beyond.
Remember when you first started a job, it was exciting? A breath of a new start? Two items you received to mark your status in this company were smooth to the touch business cards, the fonts kerning perfectly, and your name plate. Shiny, hot from the press identifier. You are… Marketing Manager! Account Coordinator! SIGNIFICANT. To our team; our “family.”
Next you know, those same items are tossed into a scuffed milk crate that doubles for a box, alongside all the knick knacks you carefully placed at your “home”. The happy family is shattered, your belongings now orphans.
Ohhh, sweet revenge. Label me a scorned woman if you will. I spell it this way – FREEDOM. And I tell you, freedom never tasted so sweet.
Tell me, former or current pod people, what item did you/would you cathartically destroy to represent your freedom from the cube?
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{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
@Steve – LOL. Nice! And a washcloth or *towel* is a decent rework. Ahh, from your comment you are still entrenched in the corporate jungle? Please visit again! Maybe my misfires.. er.. adventures might stimulate an MIA episode! :)
I wouldn’t destroy any one thing from my cubicle. What I would love to do is get every article of clothing I ever received from all of the workplaces I have ever been at and put them in a pile and burn them. Unfortunately, I can’t do that since I’ve given away most of those items to charity. But seriously, I’ve been given hats, t-shirts, workshirts and other various items of clothing from my work places and I never wear them. I have one in my cubicle right now that I sometimes uses as a hand towel. I have to put it to some use, don’t I?
@Mars Dorian – Hopefully the utter satisfaction I felt shredding the damn thing resonated in the video. Welcome to the blog, you arrived at the right moment – I’m about to go pyro on the world. :)
@Monica – I think it’s lovely how family is vital to your life. More people should have that attitude. :)
Lol, that’s one awesome short video.
I just found your site via almost fearless – and I luv your style. I’ve never been a cubicle drone – I’d have probably shot myself before that.
Great mission and grrreat design, nice nice. Now take it a level higher and set the world ablaze with your passions ;)
I don’t have anything to destroy but I think being able to see my family who I live at home with would be a great sign that I have my life back. Having a hot home cooked meal with them would be nice.
@Leigh – Ohhh, the policies. :) Now that’s satisfying. :)
Shredding and recycling mounds of USELESS meeting minutes, project reports, evaluations & goal sheets (JoAnna ☺), company policies, blah blah blah…… was the most satisfying experience I ever had in corporate ‘prison!’ The only piece of paper I kept was a copy of my resignation! FREEEEEEEEDOM! Thanks so much for your thoughtful writing!
@Andi – Hehe.. That’s how I looked at it. :)
Thankfully I was and will never be in a cube! But, high five for the shred!!! I think it’s fantastic to move on and get closure from the past. :)
@Amy – A bonfire of ugly shirts by poolside? Oh yeah, slide that keg my way! :)
@Candice – Never! A laptop is irreplaceable, not to mention useful to create better memories. But the old work docs, definitely burn those.
@Alison – Wow, sounds like you’ve had a few satisfying moments there. I realize how extreme it might seem, but I view it as a symbolic ritual – end the old and open the door to new experiences, even new jobs.
Never really had a “Cube” job but I remember 6 of us burning the least favorite colored shirt from massage school uniform. We had to wear these 5 days a week for a year. So liberating to burn it durning the pool party we had a graduation.
VICTORY!
Errr, I don’t think there’s anything I’d get rid of…I’d be happy to never use this laptop again, though.
Haha! Good for you. My best moment was stuffing my old work uniform in the Salvation Army bin. At another job I also wrote a resignation letter that got my useless boss fired and me a request to replace her (which I graciously refused). There’s something to be said for burning a few bridges ;)
@Joel – Aha! That’s where you’re wrong. That wasn’t me, but a *corporate* reflection. Never was me. :)
There’s something weird about you shredding an image of yourself – that should be reserved for the chopped off heads of exes photos.
For me, my catharsis will be donating all of my dress shoes to a worthy cause. They don’t fit with my pedals!
@JoAnna – Haha! Wonderful. Isn’t that an old saying? Achieve the unachievable?
Woo hoo! Good for you!
For me, I recycled my evaluation reports and “goal” sheets. No need to try to achieve the unachievable anymore!