Blog Post: The Death of a Career and Other Living Things

The story of the shoeless cobbler is timeless, along with the saying: “Doctor, Heal thy self.” This past week my 76 year old mother called me to say that she was going to lose her job. I was never able to convince her, despite all efforts for the past few years that it would have been better for her to leave the position she has held for 20 years than to tolerate the daily harassment of a supervisor that could not handle sharing “the spotlight”. A clinical medical social worker, my mother lived through 5 different ownerships of her facility and served as the site administrator for several years before being replaced during this final takeover.

At one time one of the largest care providers to people with HIV and AIDS in Broward County, Florida, my mother not only built one of the most stellar careers but served as a shining role model for so many people in so many situations. But praising my mother is not the purpose of this piece. Proclaiming how she established her position and the thousand ways she had earned it is also not the purpose. What is the purpose is the putting up with inappropriate behavior by superiors rather than seeking a more positive, healthy environment. Hardly an unusual situation, my mother was afraid that she was too old to be hired by a different organization. Despite owning one of the most positive, optimistic personalities I know, my mother was immobilized by fear and there was nothing I could do. My fear in all of this is that with out her career, would that mean the beginning of the end of her life?

I have been seeking the advice from wiser people, including my mother, about what I should do. In almost every case the answer is precisely what I would have told someone else, what a surprise. The best assistance for my mother is for her children to take the best care of themselves possible. What else could a parent desire? That includes not accepting unacceptable situations, environments, relationships or anything else that breeds dis-ease.

As for my mother, I hope that I succeed in uprooting her from gloomy, musky south Florida and get her to join my siblings and me here in easy-breezy southern California. I hope that as we get past the grieving of this long ago dead job that she will realize her value to so many people in so many places. The truth: her career never died, her job did. It takes strength and courage to move on, neither of which my mother was ever short. What is sad is all the people that will not be receiving the knowledge, warmth and support she is able to provide. What is exciting are all the new people that are going to be able to receive my mother’s knowledge, warmth and support.

Ain’t life grand?

Steve Krohn

TTG Consultants

Sk1988@ttgconsultants.com