They are not your friends

Published by Xiao on 23/01/202323/01/2023

I just got a reality check a few days ago, I got called into the office and was informed on my last day of probation that they were letting me go.

No prior notice in the previous 3 months, and no mention of anything wrong with my work.

Remember when they said to you “work colleagues and your boss, are not your friends”?

I wish I had kept that in mind.

I think everyone knows this in the back of their head, but we tend to ignore it.
When you work everyday side by side with someone, you come to trust them, that’s just human nature.

In reality, you’re all there for a collective objective and doesn’t matter how nice they are, if something happens and you’re in the way, they won’t hesitate in cutting you off.
That’s sad, but the reality is sad.

Now I understand why certain people try to stay as anonymous as possible in the workplace and just do their job. I guess that way if shit hits the fan, you’re just dealing with the financial damage.

I’m honestly mad at myself for trusting them so much, I’m nearly 30 at this point and I know better, but human nature is hard to beat at times.

I should have kept my options open and scanned the job marketplace, but yeah it’s useless to think about it now.

The workplace truly is a ruthless place now, especially for young people after the crazy thing happening in the world (Covid, the Ukrainian war, economic downturn).

This was actually a wakeup call

The irony is that even though I’m not in deep trouble financially, I feel like I just woke up from a long slumber, much like Neo in the Matrix.

I was constantly sleep deprived, being out of the house on business trips sometimes even 13-14 hours a day, with barely any time left at the end of the day for anything else.

I was either working or resting to work again because learning coding was taking so much brain power.
The only real “free time” I got was the weekend, and even then you got chores and daily life BS to sort out.

Even though they came back to me with a new offer to fit their needs, saying they value my skills, that’s no way of treating a human being with hopes and dreams, and especially duties.

Much like in romantic relationships, also in work relationships, you need to establish boundaries and how much BS you’re willing to put on, and respect is a cardinal point on the list.

I rather plunge into the Abyss of the unknown and see what I can get out of it.

Maybe I can escape this sad reality or I’ll have to suck it up and slave away for the next master.

Either way, it’s time to plan the best next move with the card that I was dealt.