Thoughts on the great resignation

 The COVID19 Pandemic has dominated our thinking now for almost two years.  Every aspect of our lives has changed to some degree. Those of us who took being healthy for granted have awakened to a new reality -- an awareness that no one is completely safe from a communicable disease unless one ceases all human contact.  Those who were already fearful or sick have endured the constant terror that the worst could happen at any moment.  

Granted the general availability of vaccines (since last January) has eased the fear of hospitalization and/or death, but the Pandemic is always there --a ravenous vulture sitting on a tree branch waiting for the right moment.  

A few white collars are going back to the office , (probably to get out of the house and get some work done), but a lot of workers and managers are realizing that, after avoiding the deadly daily commute back and forth for a year or more, they are reluctant to go back to the cage.  Many actually enjoyed reconnecting with families. a lot of min wage workers decided to move up to better paying jobs with benefits. 

Strangely, more than a few folks  are leaving jobs because they refuse to get vaccinated.  I say strangely, because there is no logical reason for most informed people to resist this lifesaving measure.   Okay, I admit that there is a lot of misinformation floating around, and for the gullible and stupid, no amount of facts will change their minds.  This is definitely a product of our current political environment:  What you believe depends on who you want running the country. This, of course, is a perverted mindset that has little to do with reason or common sense.

Many businesses have never recovered from the near total shut-downs that were enforced in the period before the general public could be vaccinated.  Some businesses that relied on in-person transactions with customers (Restaurants, Gyms, transportation services, etc.) never re-opened.  Those that have reopened are usually understaffed.   Those workers had a chance to think about their future.   I cannot fault anyone who aspires to a better position where the do not feel trapped.  I do fault the employers who took advantage of workers who were desperate to support themselves and their families.  Now those workers have options and are moving on.

It has been reported that more than 50% of currently employed teachers want to quit.  The reasons vary from COVID related regulations, to unhappy parents and general chaos.  Some corporate  employers are looking at these disgruntled teachers to fill open positions in HR and Training.  And on and on it goes.   

January Notebook

As 2022 starts ticking away, I am visited by the nagging awareness that I am six months away from my 80th birthday. You might think that the realization that I'm on the downward side of the hill would have me assessing my life and the meaning of it all, worrying about my legacy, putting my affairs in order. But no....  

I have long since given-up trying to find meaning in existence. I've come to accept that true understanding of concepts like infinity and eternity are beyond knowing to the minds of men. I would love to believe in an afterlife, higher power, or even UFO's. But, the evidence does not support such fantasies. 

What gives meaning to life anyway?   I do not require meaning in nature. I accept the randomness of it all. Scientific explanation for the physical world makes sense to my mind. As I contemplate my advanced age, I accept that my world is smaller. While some adventurers seek to walk on other planets, I am content to tread familiar paths, within walking distance. I cherish the ability to walk, realizing that it is an impermanent state.

Such concerns as my place in the universe, or was I a good father? do not haunt me. What is cannot be changed. As my grandfather would say to my grandmother's frequent harangues, "Anne, I'm doing the best I can; that's all you would expect of a horse." So it was, in work and life, I did the best I could at the time.

I accept that some doors have closed: I will not win the Nobel Prize for literature, or become US Open Tennis Champion.  Also, I do not ruminate about past events. The past cannot be undone.  I do acknowledge that my future is rooted in the past.  Smoking for 40+ years did not help my pulmonary function today, or tomorrow.  Ditto other unhealthy habits.  

Yet, there is still reason to remain optimistic.  Some bodily damage can be repaired. So can relationships.

Fortunately I do not have a list of regrets or evil deeds to repent.  I am content with my current self.  To go back and change any event in the past, would take me to another place.  I am not willing to risk ending up in that what-if place.