the unemployed visionary

I mastered the signs ages ago, just in case, and here was a just in case.

They stop promoting, no salary increments, closing down of upcountry branches, late salary payouts, no more intern positions or hires, late payments to clients, no more petty cash, retreats, team building, annual bonus or end of year parties.

Since most companies don’t notify the employees when they are on the verge of  ‘re-structuring’ and are about to cease living and start surviving, only the smart ones read between the lines and exit early enough to benefit from a severance package.

I am among the tens of thousands if not hundreds that lost their job this year; a year that so many businesses have closed down or let go over half their staff.

During my fist days at the editorial office I pointed out the lack of gender balance and youthful faces in the meetings.  I was shot down so fast and sternly I vowed never to express myself again.

For the next couple of years, I watched as our sales dwindled and nothing could be done about it.  We had to accept.  This was it.  The Death of Print.

Deep down I knew what the problem was.  The Paper had been a Big Hit for decades.  Decades when newspapers were the IT.  It was the only way to get in-depth coverage of anything newsworthy from around the globe.  It was the first thing you picked in the morning.  Now, the first thing we pick is our smartphone.  It was what was in the paper that set the agenda for the day.  Today, social media handles that.  A man walking/holding a paper was perceived as learned and distinguished.  Now, we see you carrying a paper we’ll think you’re going to the toilet.  The breaking news, the gossip, the sports, leisure section, politics, lifestyle…we can all get them at the click of a button or swiping our phone.

Yet, my boss, some 80+ year old man clung to the thing without wanting to acknowledge that our target market had changed.  The guys who made the newspaper the IT thing were long dead, in hospice, too blind to read and too old to care what a mess the state of the nation was becoming.  We needed a new market of readers, my age ideally, who would probably give it life and carry it for a couple of decades or so.

But, what do you young people know right?

Boy, you should have heard or listened to my ideas.  Epic Ideas!  Instead of letting people go, we’d be hiring.

So, here I am, with a bunch of magnificent ideas and business proposal, hoping I’ll get enough money to launch.

I see it happening soon, though, from experience, we only get enough money to launch our ideas into businesses when the kids are all grown and out of our care, and our pension finally comes through.  By then, all these ideas are as outdated as chapatis during Christmas.

This, I believe, is why we are always lagging behind in advancement of science, technology and innovation.  In our youth, we are bursting with all these incredible ideas of how to change the world but nobody wants to invest in unrealistic ideas and hobbies that aren’t real careers.  We let go and adapt to societal expectations with hope that someday, we’ll break free and make real our dreams.  That we do, but, those outdated dreams crumble faster than a poorly baked cake.  Trust me, that’s exactly what would happen if Raila finally became the President.

I have seen it with my dad whose big dream was to own a posho mill.  He used all his pension money to open one yet today, there is one at every corner of town.  My grandfather’s was to open an elite private school in the village.  You should see that thing – beaten down and more pathetic than a government school in Mbooni.  An older relative took a huge loan to open a Laundromat within a middle class estate where nowadays, everyone has their own washing machine.

You’ll probably see it with me too, when I’m 71 and get hold of my inheritance, and invest it in you know what…