George is about 10, 15 years younger than I. A Korean-American, George and I came into each other’s lives via my parents business, Market Distribution Specialists, Inc. George is actually one of the principal characters in the project, literally a person who could be cast either as villain or victim, and my talking to him was the first long discussion we have had in possibly a decade.
Without stepping too much on the other projects toes, George was a hustler of the typical Midwestern sort- indefatigable, always looking to maximize value no matter what the task, and kept to a schedule of 60-80+ hour work weeks, to the detriment of his wife and son. He believed in America, he had money in his pocket, and even when MDS went belly up, I was assured that he would quickly rebound.
And he did, working as a salesman/manager for a manufacturing concern with Texas as his territory… excellent pay (well over $100k before bonuses and per diem), but for brutal hours and travel. He then decided to leave that job, go into auto sales near his home in Oklahoma City, having 6 sales credited to him his first week.
But, still… long hours. Good pay, but now in a competitive environment where he has to make sure he isn’t getting screwed out of his commissions.
And then COVID hits. The dealership wants to keep George, but George is not too sure he wants to keep the dealership. He’s tired. He looks back at the last 20 years and regrets the time taken from his family for other people’s benefit. He wonders if he should have redirected his energies elsewhere than chasing the American dream via the traditional ‘work until you drop and you’ll be rewarded for it’ system. He’s done fine - has a few acres in Oklahoma, raises pigs on the side (it was feeding time during part of the call), but in terms of wealth, well… he’s like most people and, apart from his land, he doesn’t have much in the form of liquid assets: stocks, mutual funds, 401k, etc.
So, George decided to leave.
‘Why should I work 80 hours a week for $100,000 when I can do my current job, 40 hours a week, for $70,000 and have no management responsibilities?’
(He left the dealership as their #2 salesperson, now does warehouse work in OKC.)
'I look back, see all the shit I’ve done, and for what? I’m happier being a pig farmer w/ a warehouse job than I was while being paid more as the head of the largest sales division of my previous firm.
‘It took me 20 years to realize… we didn’t need the money. We just wanted it. Or, rather, I wanted it. And I’m not too sure why.’
George is a person who, I am sure, can bring $1,000,000+ top-line revenue to the right company, he is that easy to like, that good of a salesperson. However, he has effectively decided, in his 40s, to get out of the American game of continuous financial advancement by dialing back his skill set, his effort, even his material expectations of life in America.
In his way, George, too, has become a nahployee.
And he isn’t the only one, the only mid-career American who has taken stock of their lives because of COVID and decided to change their approach to work and money by reducing both.