November 12th, 2015

Travelin’ Man

by Terri Libenson

Not long ago, a reader asked me if I would do a story line about Rob’s job. Specifically, if I would shake things up a little. Years ago, I had done just that — made the poor guy lose his job. Luckily, he got a new one, and all was well. For a while. For a long, LONG while, apparently.

So, it’s time to shake things up again. The average worker today spends about 5 years at a job before changing. That’s a good reason for Rob to make a move (Jill doesn’t count, as she freelances — thereby changing jobs all the time).

My own husband, like Rob, is in I.T. He’s worked at several different companies, even did consulting for a while. Consulting paid more but wasn’t as stable as a regular ol’ corporate job. It involved travel, and it also — eventually — involved job loss. Luckily, he got a great new one that he still enjoys today.

In the case of the strip, I needed an impetus for Rob to find something new. I decided to make him…well, bored. What the heck, he’s in his 40s — it’s either this or a sports car, and lord knows he can’t afford that after paying for a Bat Mitzvah.

So I’m working backwards from my own reality. Rob will look for a consulting job with travel. It’s time for him to spread his wings. It also makes for a challenging situation for Jill, who has to pick up the slack at home.

This should be interesting.