One year ago today I was fired.
Today I celebrate.
Jobs are like relationships.
If they don't want you, you should leave.
Yes, I had my moments of fear.
Maybe even a soupcon of despair.
And yes, I had a bit of a drop of income.
But I learned a lot.
First of all, I gained a deeper understanding of who's a mentsch and who's a schmuck.
Second, I learned that if you work hard at finding work and at doing work, you usually find work.
Third, I learned that while I can castigate myself for having burned some bridges in my career, my integrity commands respect in the job market.
Fourth, I got to see the inside of a lot of pompous old-school agencies that have as much hope of returning to flight as a Louisiana pelican.
Fifth, I learned to have a bit more faith in myself, in what I can do and what I bring to an agency.
Sixth, I remembered this quotation from Hemingway's "The Last Good Country": "He had already learned there was only one day at a time and that it was always the day you were in. It would be today until it was tonight and tomorrow it would be today again."
So to all the mofos who fired me, two things.
1. Fuck you.
2. Thank you.
