I’m on a highway cruising down the express lane with the pedal to the metal heading in the direction of the upper middle class. I got a full tank of gas, a sandwich, some water, a radar detector and an EZ Pass. There is no stopping me. I’m not taking any breaks, I refuse to slow-down, and my goal is to get to the promised lands of mortgage payments, retirement accounts, medical insurance, golf courses, wife, babies, family vacations, college savings, swimming pools, backyard BBQs, college tours, empty nesting, retirement, nursing homes, and death as quickly as possible.
I got on the highway 7 years ago when I first went to college. Back then, I drove pretty slowly and took a lot of breaks. I got off the highway to look around and check out my surroundings. I met a lot of cool people, learned about myself, and basically just had a lot of fun. But, I knew the direction I was heading in, so I never ventured too far away from the high-way. I got on the high-way for accounting courses, internships, career seminars, and always made sure that I was progressing. I got off the highway to go on Spring Break, join a fraternity, chase some girls, party it up … But never for an extended period of time. Going abroad during college would set me back too far… Even taking a summer to travel around was too much of a sacrifice….
And from the day I graduated, I never looked back… I zoomed right past the first exit I saw – the summer after college graduation… Instead, I started working right away for the largest accounting firm in the world… After 2 and a half years there, including an early promotion, total raises of 50% of my starting salary, bonuses, and unused vacation time of roughly 4 weeks… I quit to join a new firm…. And there was another exit (the time between jobs)… and again, I drove right past it…I started at the new job literally the very next week…
And so it goes, onward and upwards… slaving for the man, doing the best I could, taking the road most traveled… There is no looking back, there is no slowing down…I’m 25 years old and this is my life… This is the rat race… The exits are getting fewer and further between… Can I get off? Will I get off? Should I get off?
An honest attempt to escape office cube imprisonment, exit the path to the upper middle class and explore the world...
1 comment:
you sound like the back of a roadtrip nation dvd. and thats a compliment :). i am proud of you brother. ironically, as you go offroading from the highway , i will be entering onto it- I start my job in 2 short weeks. although, i do have all of new york city to explore (too bad it will have to be contained to after 5 pm and on weekends). i'm squirming in my chair with excitment for the next blog. maybe ill start one too hmmmmm
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