This past week at my corporate job, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of employment for one of my co-workers.  At my last job, you would get a nice pat on the back and get to pick out an overpriced prize from the company catalog for major service anniversaries.  Nothing says indentured servitude like being able to pick out your own DVD player after 25 years of employment(notice I said DVD player, not Blu-Ray player).  But I was actually pretty surprised that my new employer was willing to pay for an entire lunch for 30 people at a restaurant off campus.

While we were at lunch, a couple of the guys I was sitting with were making jokes about how 25 years was nothing.  Between the three of them they had 30, 35 and 33 years at the same company!  I couldn’t even fathom how someone could work at the same corporate job for 30+ years.  These guys are the same ones who constantly complain about how they’re overworked and underpaid yet they haven’t done a thing about it for over 30 years apparently.

So either they’re lying or they’re lazy because why else would you work the same job for 30 years?  I don’t know if I’ll ever be passionate about something to do it for 30 years but I do know that I at least want the financial freedom to pursue my passions.  One of the reasons why I’m working so hard right now at saving and building multiple sources of income is so that I don’t have to work the same job for 30 years if I don’t want to. [Read more…]