The Pressure

I had a friend who was a designer, and was doing quite well. At one point he decided he had to take on another person, and used friends to help out. Once in a while the friend screwed these jobs up and he was horrified. He was unable to discipline his employee as it was his friend.

Later on, as work increased, he realized he needed full-time help to complete these major jobs, and he had to hire someone. These were in the days before computers, and yes, there are days before computers, and work was a hand job (you’ll pardon the expression).

His concern grew by leaps and bounds as work expanded and he had the necessary components to make it all happen, but there were times when work declined and he had concerns about paying his employee.

He was unable to handle an employee, and realized he had to pay the employee first, even if he received no wages himself.

It got so bad that he had to fire the employee with much concern and take on all the work himself not to have the pressure of the obligation that an employee imposed on his being.


There was, of course, too much work for one person to perform.


In the end, he decided to quit the very successful design practice he had developed and become a carpenter, which required using his skills and never having to employ another person.