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I've spent enough time in counseling over the past year to tell you that there are people out there who tie their identity so strongly to their jobs that this s

I've spent enough time in counseling over the past year to tell you that there are people out there who tie their identity so strongly to their jobs that this statement would definitely be true. There's at least one of them - that's me! Part of why I'm in counseling is that I recognized this, and I want to change it.

bryanrasmussen 5y ago
you might feel that about yourself, but would you have expressed it to another person about them? Lots of people can feel that they have failed as a human being when they get fired, but it takes a real nut to say that about someone they don't know as a piece of objective fact!
- cushychicken 5y ago
  Yeah, I agree - that's a harsh verging on psychotic thing to tell someone who's just taken a blow like that. I hate to say it, though, but I think the sort of person that would say something like that is the sort of person I have been for the better part of the last decade. I defined myself so strongly by my job, and what I did, that I probably would have seen it as a huge personal and moral failing to be fired. I pity the person who said that. (Not nearly as much as I pity the person who heard that. What a shite thing to say to a friend, or even an acquaintance!) That's no excuse for that level of unkindness, but I think I see the worst parts of my personal history in what would drive someone to say something like that. I hope they see that, and I hope they are inspired to change when they recognize it.
  - bryanrasmussen 5y ago
    Ok well I'm glad to hear you're better, but as I started out with I think that is the less likely situation than just being ironic and the irony not being apparent (because it was said online). But maybe I just think that is the more likely because I can totally see myself saying that ironically. on edit: I probably don't sound caring enough but I have a hard time doing that, so believe me I am glad you do not have this problem anymore since it sounds pretty bad.
    - cushychicken 5y ago
      Pro tip: irony, or ironic humor, is not a great reaction to someone who just told you they got fired.

bryanrasmussen 5y ago

you might feel that about yourself, but would you have expressed it to another person about them? Lots of people can feel that they have failed as a human being when they get fired, but it takes a real nut to say that about someone they don't know as a piece of objective fact!

cushychicken 5y ago
Yeah, I agree - that's a harsh verging on psychotic thing to tell someone who's just taken a blow like that. I hate to say it, though, but I think the sort of person that would say something like that is the sort of person I have been for the better part of the last decade. I defined myself so strongly by my job, and what I did, that I probably would have seen it as a huge personal and moral failing to be fired. I pity the person who said that. (Not nearly as much as I pity the person who heard that. What a shite thing to say to a friend, or even an acquaintance!) That's no excuse for that level of unkindness, but I think I see the worst parts of my personal history in what would drive someone to say something like that. I hope they see that, and I hope they are inspired to change when they recognize it.
- bryanrasmussen 5y ago
  Ok well I'm glad to hear you're better, but as I started out with I think that is the less likely situation than just being ironic and the irony not being apparent (because it was said online). But maybe I just think that is the more likely because I can totally see myself saying that ironically. on edit: I probably don't sound caring enough but I have a hard time doing that, so believe me I am glad you do not have this problem anymore since it sounds pretty bad.
  - cushychicken 5y ago
    Pro tip: irony, or ironic humor, is not a great reaction to someone who just told you they got fired.