That didn't work out as planned
When things fall to absolute sh*t
Today, write about some situation you once loved, but grew to dislike very much.
This is inspired be a recent Harvard Business Review piece, “When a new boss makes you hate a job you once loved,” which reminded me of a retail gig I had more than twenty years ago in which I transferred from beloved Store A in one city to dreaded Store B in another.
Everyone who worked at Store A was great, and even all these years later, I am still in touch with many of them. It wasn’t an easy job but my coworkers made it fun and we all supported each other. Store B? When my boss put in the transfer, the new boss pulled me up in the system and asked him, “She looks like a pain in the ass. How many times have you written her up?” My boss assured her I’d never been written up and that he was sorry to see me go. Anyway, you can imagine how well that ray of sunshine and I got along since I walked in the door pre-judged and all. Nobody at that store got along, sales were slow, the vibe was awful. I quit in less than a month. But, there’s plenty to mine here and use as scaffolding for a piece about leadership or collaboration or not having a shit attitude or any number of things.
And, you don’t need to write about a work situation unless you want to. Maybe your amazing partner turned out to be a monster or your dream house turned out to be haunted af, or your neighborhood turned out to be overrun with Karens. Or maybe you look more broadly at a social or business or economic situation in the world that started out great then turned to shit. The what is up to you. Let’s write.
