Is it just me or is it kinda freaking you out out there? Like, I don't know why anyone cares about any part of this job when it feels like the world is on the precipice of very literally exploding.

But, when I go to work everyone seems totally normal. Are people not paying attention to just how radically messed up everything is?

People say we’re living in “unprecedented times,” but they forget, every generation in history has.

People still went to work and lived their lives during WWII, the Cold War, the AIDS epidemic, the JFK assassination, the Unabomber, Columbine, the Oklahoma City bombing, Watergate, and countless other crises.

That’s called life. History is always happening.

The idea that we’ll someday live in a perfectly calm, kumbaya world is unrealistic. The world has always been messy and uncertain.

So instead of obsessing over every global crisis, focus on what you can actually change, the people and community around you.

That’s the part of the world you can actually change.

I think people are just trying to survive. Not go insane and support their families. Work can be a level of solace from the chaos without

I think most people are doing their jobs the same way people tidy the house before a storm. Not because it fixes anything, but because it’s something you can control.

No one is okay.

Americans largely slept walked through the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well. We are a very isolated country who have simply become used to thinking of most wars and acts of terrorism as things that happen "elsewhere". 9/11 should have been a more lasting wake up call, but we love our ignorance.

I hear you. I feel like I'm losing my mind when everything from the "files" to this godforsaken war to massive layoffs is like, right in our faces, and everyone seems to be going about their day like, hmmm, whatever. It's only when I speak to my therapist that she reassures me that it's not just me. People are trying to cope, whatever that looks like. For some that means downplaying everything, for some that means disassociating from current events, for some that means focusing on things they have a little control over, etc. There are a few who truly don't care (like actively say that and mock people who DO care) and those are the people who scare me the most. 🥺

Everyone is doing a full ”Severance” to make sure they don’t lose their jobs — because no one can afford to.

At least that’s what I’m doing.

Focusing on the things you can control helps. Family and community is very important right now.

There’s a reason the famous British WWII poster message still resonates: Keep Calm and Carry On. We’re not ok but we’re holding it together by clinging to routine and small joys. I personally have a few politically-minded friend that I crash out with and it’s therapeutic. Despite wanting to leave my keyboard behind and join the revolution, there isn’t one and I need to pay rent.

I found myself working for state govt, and can confirm the aura of bleakness. Hard not to spiral into a state of dread when sometimes the very job we do only works to embolden those with the most resources and the fewest morals. We could be laid off tomorrow, and 💣 the next. But it's also not healthy to speculate on the worst outcomes, and it doesn't contribute anything positive to only contemplate despair. I anxiously stay informed, but also reflect on the areas where I have some semblance of control and gratitude.

It is often with great reluctance that I perform my duties to my employers which look to use my work to inevitably automate my replacement, and I have no trust that any action will be taken to save us. Similarly, I detest the act of warmongering, because at this point in time, we're only a few threatened egos/hurt feelings away from uninhabiting the earth. Yet, I try to be intentional with how & whom I spend my leisure time with, I plan for the future to the best of my ability, I volunteer to help people in my community, and I lean into the mild comfort that routine brings until something changes, then I re-evaluate and adapt.

We have had the gross privilege of separation from conflicts abroad and ideologically, and recognizing when and how to take action to yield the most positive outcome for the most people has become rare. We need community and unity; however we're able to build that will be telling of how well we can cope.

No, this is simply the repeating of a pattern we’ve been living forever

It is so easy to tune out all details right now because you don’t even know what is real anymore

As a leader or a team I’m definitely talking to people. Not a week goes by without 2-3 meetings that people ask if they can “put some time on my calendar because they need to talk”. Leaders in my larger team (two teams that work very closely together) have talked about needing to give people some grace. We’re all operating with less emotional capacity so little things become big things very quickly. Larger management however is still expecting 100% impact at 100% billability. People are not well. Just trying to support people the best I can, but it’s been a few weeks since I made it without tears.

Welcome to the real world there are those people who will just come to a job and look for how to make the system benefit themselves and their friends alone mainly people who come from bad neighborhoods bad suburbs etc because all they’re looking at is their hours and how to rack it up people don’t care for a job mainly because all they want is money and will argue to their graves over minor things rather than take responsibility or engage to solve a problem.

That's called "denial."

No other job would be any different - this dissonance is fundamental to employment. We’re working for business entities whose raison detre is selling their widgets regardless of whether the world is all rainbows and cotton candy or whether it’s on the precipice of doom

We're all paying attention. A number of unhinged people have decided my ethnic group is a giant conspiracy personally responsible for every one of these problems, so I'm extra concerned.

But what do you want from people? We still have to eat food and sleep indoors, so of course we're still working to the best of our ability.

Still gotta eat, bro.

Hey, you don't sell insurance, by any chance...?