So, I picked up this used chess set the other day. Found it at a little flea market, tucked away in a corner. Dirt cheap, you know? Looked like it had seen a few battles, a few pieces a bit worn, but all there. Solid wood, not that flimsy plastic stuff you see everywhere.
Got me thinking, actually. This whole thing of finding something decent for next to nothing. It reminded me of a time, not too long ago, when I was really watching every single penny. Had to. That was right after I finally walked out of that soul-crushing gig. Let’s just call it “Global Strategic Innovations PLC,” which was a mouthful and honestly, they weren’t strategic and rarely innovative.
That Place… A Real Piece of Work
Man, that job. You wouldn’t believe the stuff they had us doing, or rather, pretending to do. It was a classic case of looking busy versus actually getting anything done. We had this one senior manager, right? Always talking about “leveraging synergies” and “blue-sky thinking.” Every week, a new corporate buzzword. Every day, a new pointless meeting that could’ve been an email.
- Endless meetings: Seriously, we had meetings to prepare for other meetings. I once sat in a three-hour “workshop” that achieved absolutely nothing except consume coffee and biscuits.
- Reports for everything: Had to write a detailed report if you changed your desk plant. And nobody ever read them. They just got filed away in some shared drive no one remembered the password to.
- The “hot-desking” policy: Supposed to encourage dynamism. Really just meant you wasted 15 minutes every morning trying to find a desk that wasn’t broken or next to the loudest person in the office.
I remember thinking, my brain is actually shrinking here. I was just going through the motions, day in, day out. Clock in, nod politely during the morning “stand-up” (which was always a sit-down and lasted an hour), try to look engaged, clock out. The pay was, well, it paid the bills, but I was so miserable. What’s the point if you dread Monday mornings like it’s a root canal?
So, I handed in my notice. Just like that. Didn’t have another job lined up, which, looking back, was maybe a bit impulsive, but I just couldn’t take another minute of it. My granddad always used to say, “If your work makes you sick, it ain’t worth the paycheque.” Wise words.
Back to Basics, Like This Old Chess Set
Naturally, things got a bit lean for a while after that. That’s when I really started appreciating the simple stuff. Like finding a good deal on this used chess set. Or just having the time to actually think my own thoughts without someone asking me if I’d “socialized the deck” yet.
I actually started playing chess more during that time. Bought a cheap plastic board from a charity shop – nothing as nice as this wooden one I just found, but it did the trick. There’s something straightforward about chess, isn’t there? Clear rules, you make a decision, you see the result. No office politics, no hidden agendas, no trying to decipher what your boss really meant in that passive-aggressive email.
It’s funny, looking at this old set now. It’s not pristine, it’s got a few dings and scratches. It’s got character. A bit like that period of my life, I suppose. Wasn’t always easy, but I learned a heck of a lot. Mostly about what I didn’t want from life and work. And sometimes, you find the best things when you’re forced to slow down and look at things differently. Like this beat-up, but perfectly good, old chess set.
