Friday, August 20, 2004
Gone Corporate
Every so often, I'm going to need to use this blog for topics outside the realm of sports, such as now when I need to vent about the most insulting thing anyone has ever said about me in my life.
I was searching my own name on Yahoo (I was checking to see if this blog would come up, not to exercise my vanity) and I found that my name appeared in a diary entry of a friend of mine from college. I was curious what was being said about me so I clicked. I found that it was actually a letter from our comedy writing professor, responding to my friend's letter updating her on what some of the class was doing these days. Here is what my former professor had to say about yours truly:
"John Kumpart's gone corporate? He'll do well--he's got the personality for it."
I almost strangled my mouse. I'm not even sure what it means exactly, but I can't recall any comedy writers referencing "going corporate" as a good thing. I highly doubt she meant that I've "got the personality" to receive great healthcare benefits and a 401K plan. So what did she mean then? Did she mean that I'm perfectly suited to wear a tie five days a week, have my skin turn yellow from fluorescent lighting, and get hassled about not putting the new cover sheet on my TPS reports? Gee, thanks. I think she meant I've got the personality to kiss ass and tow the company line. I've been called fat, boring, and inconsiderate, but nothing as nasty as the connotations of the word "corporate."
Excuse me for getting a job. Pardon me for sacrificing my independence so that I could eat, and make payments on the student loans I accrued at your scholarly place of employment. Would you prefer I lived under a bridge and honed my craft while the creditors hunted me with blowguns and steel nets? I guess that would be the more artistic thing to do, but hey, just like you said, I don't have the personality for it. What about you? Is working for a private university all that different from "going corporate?" Do you consider yourself to be defined simply as a college professor because that is what pays your bills? Something tells me you would consider yourself to be a writer first. So why is it chic for you to take a day job with the university and work on your writing on the side, yet when you get word that I work for a studio forty hours a week, suddenly I've "gone corporate?"
If I had a choice of all the jobs in the world, would I choose the one I have now? Of course not. Like you, I would choose to be a writer. I'm trying to get there and forgive me if I have to make certain sacrifices along the way to keep the journey aptly funded. Don't trivialize my life and enslave my spirit by saying I've "gone corporate," and, please, don't condemn my future by saying I've "got the personality for it."
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I was searching my own name on Yahoo (I was checking to see if this blog would come up, not to exercise my vanity) and I found that my name appeared in a diary entry of a friend of mine from college. I was curious what was being said about me so I clicked. I found that it was actually a letter from our comedy writing professor, responding to my friend's letter updating her on what some of the class was doing these days. Here is what my former professor had to say about yours truly:
"John Kumpart's gone corporate? He'll do well--he's got the personality for it."
I almost strangled my mouse. I'm not even sure what it means exactly, but I can't recall any comedy writers referencing "going corporate" as a good thing. I highly doubt she meant that I've "got the personality" to receive great healthcare benefits and a 401K plan. So what did she mean then? Did she mean that I'm perfectly suited to wear a tie five days a week, have my skin turn yellow from fluorescent lighting, and get hassled about not putting the new cover sheet on my TPS reports? Gee, thanks. I think she meant I've got the personality to kiss ass and tow the company line. I've been called fat, boring, and inconsiderate, but nothing as nasty as the connotations of the word "corporate."
Excuse me for getting a job. Pardon me for sacrificing my independence so that I could eat, and make payments on the student loans I accrued at your scholarly place of employment. Would you prefer I lived under a bridge and honed my craft while the creditors hunted me with blowguns and steel nets? I guess that would be the more artistic thing to do, but hey, just like you said, I don't have the personality for it. What about you? Is working for a private university all that different from "going corporate?" Do you consider yourself to be defined simply as a college professor because that is what pays your bills? Something tells me you would consider yourself to be a writer first. So why is it chic for you to take a day job with the university and work on your writing on the side, yet when you get word that I work for a studio forty hours a week, suddenly I've "gone corporate?"
If I had a choice of all the jobs in the world, would I choose the one I have now? Of course not. Like you, I would choose to be a writer. I'm trying to get there and forgive me if I have to make certain sacrifices along the way to keep the journey aptly funded. Don't trivialize my life and enslave my spirit by saying I've "gone corporate," and, please, don't condemn my future by saying I've "got the personality for it."
# posted by j.h.k. @ 9:28 AM 
