CW Swearing (this is a toned down post from my priv)
I wrote this while I was very hung over, so apologies for the grammar etc..
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
So, an old childhood friend saw my drunkpost and decided to give me some sage advice. I haven't heard from him since I graduated Uni.. but the bastard found me, and decided to kick in my digital door in to talk some sense into my mopey arse. (This is what happens when you've had the same handle since 1999)
Anyway we had a good catch-up on what we'd been doing for the last eight years, life things, stories about other friends, you know good times, He asked me about what I was going to do next but half way through my reply he cut me off with:
"So.. why the fuck aren't you looking at Plan A..?
Hmmm, why the fuck aren't I?
Plan A
In the early 2000's when I was a wee strogglett I decided that when I was older I wanted to do Plan A.
Plan A was already a big part of my life, it got me into computing, scripting and coding, as well as a tonne of other hobbies. When I picked Computer Science as my University major, I only ever had Plan A in mind. However.. Before I left, my family back home made me promise one thing. If it doesn't work out for you, please have a P̴̯̞̼̈́ĺ̵͚̐a̶̡͛̉̀n̸͚̦̰̓̈́ ̷̛̱B̷͎͖̀̎͠.
Uni went well, I was loving my course work, meeting new people, and coming out of my shell ^_^. So much so that when my professor asked me if I had any internships lined up I had the confidence to send out nice letters to companies and individuals who I'd looked up to over the years. Much to everyone's surprise, one of them wrote back. And just like that over my summer break was heading to Austin Texas!
Now company I was at is loooooong gone, and so are their NDA's but the work they were doing.. and who they were doing it for are still very much alive and well. So sorry if this is sparse on details.
The work was amazing, and genuinely some of the coolest shit I've ever been asked to do. The rest however, was a volatile nightmare.. Things just weren't good for allot of the staff working there, everything they did had a current of existential stress under it all. I was told every other day that if I picked Plan A, I would be moving allot, be very tired, very stressed, and not really make allot. Peoples entire lives were being turned upside down and there were allot of very tense.. moments there which I still think about to this day. The people there were genuinely lovely, but I could see what going through this had done to them, and suddenly my eyes had been opened.. or so I thought.
So when I came back, I was allot less excited about my prospects in Plan A, and decided to look a little more into P̸̝̞̉̓l̴͚͖̐â̷͜ń̵̢̙͘ ̵͕̥͐̓B̴̪̈́̚, you know.. just in case!
P̶̻̗̿͂l̴̬͉̒̉̀ȧ̷̧̨̬̓͘ǹ̸̙ ̵̖͍̀̊B̷̗̦̔
Over the last two years of my study I took to P̵̼̌͆̍l̴̙̯̎̈́a̶̧̾ǹ̴̛̻͉͚̇ ̶̀̈́̇͜B̸̟̒̀͘ like a duck to water, it was challenging enough to keep me interested, and had allot more material I could rake over, since it was actually part of my degree's syllabus. Anyone who's been to a technical College, University, or Polytech knows how the rest of this goes.. You study, get put in touch with employers, and just like that you have your first entry level job! When I graduated I had to make a decision, do I just roll with it, get guaranteed work, and start making my way in the world? Or do I double back and start applying for Plan A jobs. Obviously I picked the former, why? Because it was right there, because I wouldn't have to move, and because I could always do Plan A as a hobby in my spare time!
So over the course of eight years, I stuck to it. Climbing the stepladder, making industry contacts, jumping to bigger outfits, saving money, and really just reverting to my quiet old self. It was boring, unfulfilling work. There's nothing I could really be proud of in what I did, but it paid the bills.. I eventually got stuck in a position I hated, but couldn't change out of "because I was the best".
Over time as my responsibilities grew the Plan A work I did at home, just fell by the wayside, and I was left to take out my creative frustrations on my bass guitar. Friends moved away, time progressed and I kept my head down and started turning inwards. (I'm a pretty shy person IRL, and don't really talk to people much. So if you're one of the few who's managed to wrangle me into VC, congrats, you're more chill than a hindu cow)
As I've said before in other posts, P̵̞̙͎̫̽̅̋l̸͔̗͙̔̂͘͠å̵̗̅̀̏ͅn̶̠̓ ̵̯͂̔̚B̴̻̀͛ really did look after me, but I couldn't do it forever.
"So What Now Genius?"
"Are you going to bust your arse and go back to a slightly nicer job you still hate, or are you going to give your original plan a fair shot?"
I'd never considered going back to Plan A because.. I just felt I'd fallen so far behind, like I'd need to start from scratch not, to mention the crazy imposter syndrome. Luckily my friend was able to give me several consecutive dressing downs. He "reminded" me that while the best time to start with Plan A was eight years ago, the second best time was now. And you know what the dick was right, I could do it.. just look at the mad sprint the last three years of my life had been.. I came out better than ever! Besides, those crazy living situations, the stress, and the dreadful pay was all bullshit, why do I know this.. because nearly every one of my friends works in Plan A, and they're loving it!.
Yes, if you are reading this and are my buddy, pal, or friendo I can be 90% sure you currently work in Plan A.
They all got into it at different times too! Some jumped straight in after their tertiary education, others quit their jobs or retrained and made the switch, and a couple of them just fell into it, because they're awesome like that! Fuck! Even the city I live in Dunedin, has become a NZ hub for Plan A and it's thriving down here.
So there you go, starting Monday, I'll just do the fucking thing.
Because if don't a hairy Australian man will fly down and break my knees. (´▽`)
