To be entirely fair, I had a pretty privileged position*, so I had the luxury to act in accordance with my morals once I realized I wasn’t. I don’t know that I would have been able to convince myself to quit if I were living paycheck to paycheck trying to support a family.
*Looking back, I was absolutely in a privileged position, but that was mostly due to me earning between $50-60k/year in a HCOL area at that role (and $35-40k for a few years beforehand, all within the last decade) and not having kids or student loans. That’s fucked up.
I was making six figures doing web development for a bank. My life began to fall apart and I quit. I wish I could say it was an entirely morally motivated decision, but it was mostly me beginning to realize I was burned out. Still, I quit without hesitation and I don’t regret it. My boss said we had to come in to the office for tax purposes, basically. She called it “funny money.”
People are not pawns to be pushed across the board.
So I was also privileged. I’ve been coasting on savings since quitting, but the money is running low and the AI bubble has yet to burst. I may get a fast food job to survive for now, but my sights are set on ecological work. I want to give back to the planet and do more to build a better future instead of taking all I can get. I wish my whole life had gone differently. I wish I hadn’t fallen for the bait at all.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. We have much to learn.
I also wanted to do some good, so I went back to get my masters in Germany and now I teach new immigrants the language. It’s so much easier to live with myself and I very much recommend it. Plus, we really need more good people in ecology work, they’ve currently got a hell of a heavy load. Good luck!
To be entirely fair, I had a pretty privileged position*, so I had the luxury to act in accordance with my morals once I realized I wasn’t. I don’t know that I would have been able to convince myself to quit if I were living paycheck to paycheck trying to support a family.
*Looking back, I was absolutely in a privileged position, but that was mostly due to me earning between $50-60k/year in a HCOL area at that role (and $35-40k for a few years beforehand, all within the last decade) and not having kids or student loans. That’s fucked up.
I was making six figures doing web development for a bank. My life began to fall apart and I quit. I wish I could say it was an entirely morally motivated decision, but it was mostly me beginning to realize I was burned out. Still, I quit without hesitation and I don’t regret it. My boss said we had to come in to the office for tax purposes, basically. She called it “funny money.”
People are not pawns to be pushed across the board.
So I was also privileged. I’ve been coasting on savings since quitting, but the money is running low and the AI bubble has yet to burst. I may get a fast food job to survive for now, but my sights are set on ecological work. I want to give back to the planet and do more to build a better future instead of taking all I can get. I wish my whole life had gone differently. I wish I hadn’t fallen for the bait at all.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. We have much to learn.
I also wanted to do some good, so I went back to get my masters in Germany and now I teach new immigrants the language. It’s so much easier to live with myself and I very much recommend it. Plus, we really need more good people in ecology work, they’ve currently got a hell of a heavy load. Good luck!
Amazing. 🙂 Learning a new language can unlock so many options. Thank you, and good luck!