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Size Matters: A Girardian Tale of Burnout
A totally fictional — but simultaneously true! — portrayal of one Irish elk’s experience with uncertainty, mimicry, envy, and burnout in an alternative Silicon Valley
“Man is the creature who does not know what to desire, and who turns to others in order to make up his mind.”
— René Girard
In a universe parallel to ours, there was an Irish elk named Jim.
Jim graduated from a small liberal arts college in the midwest with a degree in economics. And — surprise! — he has no idea what he wants to do. Following friends, he moves to Chicago and gets a studio.
One day, Jim goes to a coffee shop. He runs into an old family friend, Max. The two of them grew up together. Jim asks Max what he’s doing in Chicago. Max mentions he got a job via a posting on Indeed. The company is called Antlerz.
Jim trusts Max, so he opens his laptop and finds the posting. He applies to be a customer success associate at Antlerz.
Antlerz gets back to him immediately. They say they like his resumé. He briefly pauses to thank the CDO (career development office) at his alma mater for their advice on it.
