Monday, July 23, 2007

How good does it have to be?

I watched the movie The Devil Wears Prada the other day and it got me wondering. In the movie the young star had to choose between success at work and personal relationships, eventually she quit her demanding job, kept her boyfriend and pursued her life long dream job. The question raised in my head was how good does a relationship have to be for someone to leave their job for it? In her case it was easy, she never liked the job and she had other careers on her mind but even then it was hard for her to leave the success behind.

An interesting way of looking at that same question is How good does work have to be for one to sacrifice their personal relationships for it? I'm guessing most people hate their jobs sufficiently to make these questions easy to answer but it is common for work to throw a wrench in the spokes of love. What would you do if you were offered your dream job but it was thousands of miles away from your significant other?

10 comments:

Mad Bull said...

Well, me naw lef' Natty for no steenking job...

owen said...

I thought that movie was pretty darn lame. I don't know we all become a slave to the money at some point

bassChocolate said...

It depends on a lot of things, I believe. Different peoples' passions differ. Someone who loves to fly more than anything will give up a relationship to pursue the dream. Someone who loves love more will let that job pass by. I think my first instinct would be to find a way to keep both... but given the state of my relationship I think the job would receive lower priority.

Anonymous said...

I would try to carry my significant other with me.....A girlfriend of mine was faced with a similar choice but her problem was not one of leaving her hubby but one of taking the kids away from the everyday life with their dad......so in the end she gave up the job.....

Dee said...

did you see the same movie I did? It didn't end quite the same way in my mind.

But to answer your question, personal relationships are more important than work. You can always get another job but people are not interchangeable. If my relationship was going somewhere or if I'd put heavy investments into it (such as having his children) there's no way a job would come first. And here's why, when they don't need you anymore, they don't hesitate to show you the door.

Adrian said...

when they don't need you anymore, they don't hesitate to show you the door

that goes both ways.. I know some people that are like that :p


As far as I'm concerned there needs to be some form of balance.. at this point in time I wont be giving up my dream job for a relationship but at the same time I wouldn't be working myself to death at my job so I'd expect my significant other to understand and not be unreasonable.. we would all win! :)

Dee said...

people who are like that you should run from. They are borderline sociopaths--make no mistake.

SimplEnigma said...

Hmm, this might surprise many of my loyal readers, but I'd always choose the relationship - even if it ended 2 months later.

Maybe because my dream job is writing and I can pretty much do that anywhere, but I'd also like to think that if my relationship was at that level where I was conflicted, the type of dude I'd be with wouldn't make me choose.

Kara - Jamaican Woman said...

@ gc....boom bang connect....

and i'd tend towards the relationship too....good man too hard to find..lol

Unknown said...

Relative I say. Some people are not worth holding on to and the same goes for jobs.