“It’s easy to judge when you’re not the one being judged.” I remember sitting in one of my early business school courses I attended online. You see, after earning my bachelor’s degree in business systems analysis, I eagerly wanted to continued my education with an MBA specializing in BSA. But in that class I was told people are a commodity no different than any commodity needed to operate a successful business. That statement threw me for a loop, forever changing my prospective of how I planned on running my business.
I knew than I should have quit the course and stopped my pursuit of an advanced degree. But I stayed the course pushing through all the courses and business theories that I didn’t understand and questioned for the whole two years of my study. I took on the stress of building my business full-time and raising a family. All while living an unhealthy lifestyle of overeating and chain smoking just to cope. All this came to a head when struggling through my Capstone Exams. Pushing myself through my last marathon exam all while suffering tremendous chest pain that I would later discover was my first heart attack.
That was in 2015, ten years ago. And despite my best efforts to the contrary, I survived. With the world still believing we are all nothing more than just pawns on a chessboard to be discarded on a whim. Now disabled I am living on my limited retirement income much earlier than I had planned. Unable to walk the length of a short hiking trail, much less hold a stressful fulltime job due to the effects of my heart damage. Still over the last few months I’m being looked at again as nothing more than a commodity, along with my long disabled wife and son. “It’s easy to judge when you’re not the one being judged.” How easy it is to place the blame on a forgotten few, when the blame should be placed on the greed, paranoia, and selfishness we all often carry. So despite my compassion, I raise a respectful middle finger to all those that actually feel this is the way to live.
I knew than I should have quit the course and stopped my pursuit of an advanced degree. But I stayed the course pushing through all the courses and business theories that I didn’t understand and questioned for the whole two years of my study. I took on the stress of building my business full-time and raising a family. All while living an unhealthy lifestyle of overeating and chain smoking just to cope. All this came to a head when struggling through my Capstone Exams. Pushing myself through my last marathon exam all while suffering tremendous chest pain that I would later discover was my first heart attack.
That was in 2015, ten years ago. And despite my best efforts to the contrary, I survived. With the world still believing we are all nothing more than just pawns on a chessboard to be discarded on a whim. Now disabled I am living on my limited retirement income much earlier than I had planned. Unable to walk the length of a short hiking trail, much less hold a stressful fulltime job due to the effects of my heart damage. Still over the last few months I’m being looked at again as nothing more than a commodity, along with my long disabled wife and son. “It’s easy to judge when you’re not the one being judged.” How easy it is to place the blame on a forgotten few, when the blame should be placed on the greed, paranoia, and selfishness we all often carry. So despite my compassion, I raise a respectful middle finger to all those that actually feel this is the way to live.
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