A person I used to work with at a previous company just found out that he's about to be let go due to a reduction in force after a merger. He's an older gentleman that had hoped to retire to the country in a few years. Unfortunately he took a bath in the markets and his 401k has now become, in his words, more of a 1.7.
This morning I received a letter from him that was his sort of goodbye to everyone. I thought it was a great perspective on things and I'd like to pass it along.
The letter starts with a version (I believe a chain letter) of this WP article about Joshua Bell playing in the subway:
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
He continued with the following:
I had thought that being merged with a good old American company would be a great thing for many people, and maybe it is but in a different form.
Last Friday, I was personally called by a Senior Executive to tell me that, due to a Reduction In Force (RIF), I will be released next Friday, January 16, 2009 after 10 good years of fun and personal growth.
This circumstance could be sad, in light of the economy and uncertainty in the world today, but I choose to view it as a final opportunity to find new challenges for the remaining few years I want to work.
When asked, if money weren’t the prime driver, what would I do to fulfill my heart’s wishes, I found that an immediate answer was harder to identify than I would have imagined.
In the meantime, I think I should just worry about the day to day "things I am probably missing", including the arts, friends, family and the beauty of the world around me as I approach this new outcome/opportunity.
With all the job loss going on around us, I just thought this was an interesting perspective that I'd like to share with everyone here.