Friday, December 06, 2002

Advice. I've had it up to here with advice. Right now, I'm going through an 'interesting' time, employment-wise. Can we say the word "redundancy"? I am actually quite happy with the situation. Oh, I wish they would give me more money, but I've looked at the law. Yes, in cases like this, one usually does get more, but there is nothing saying that has to be the case. And that's fine - I'm still getting a decent amount, enough to tide me over for a few months. I am looking forward to taking a break; I just want this uncertain time to be over; I want to make it as hassle-free as possible.

But people at work don't think I should be happy with that. "You should take them to a tribunal"; "You should join a union"; "You should sue them for constructive dismissal"; "You should speak to so-and-so".

And then come the follow-up questions: "Did you join the union?"; "Did you talk to a solicitor?"; "Did you speak to so-and-so?"

"No."; "no"; "no".

And then come the report-backs of whispered conversations: "I don't know why I bothered helping him - he's so ungrateful"; "he's being very foolish"; "well, he's going to get what he deserves".

At first, I thought people were only trying to help; that they had my best interests at heart. But I now realise there's more to it than that. They want to stick it to the company. They want there to be trouble; they want a bit of drama in their boring work lives. They want to stir it up from afar and then sit back and watch it all blow up.

I don't. I may be making a mistake, but it's my mistake. What if I follow your advice and that turns out to be a mistake? Just leave me alone.

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