Something strange is happening to the millennial workers of America. After a year spent with their computers, they are turning over the carefully arranged chessboards of their lives and deciding to risk it all. Some are giving stable jobs up to start a new business, while others giving up the career altogether.
If this movement has a battle cry, it’s “YOLO” — “you only live once”. The term is used when people are making irresponsible bets that sometimes pay off anyway. More broadly, it has come to characterize the attitude that has captured a certain type of bored office worker in recent months.
“It feels like we’ve been so locked into careers for the past decade, and this is our opportunity to switch it up,” said Nate Moseley, 29, a buyer at a major clothing retailer. Mr Moseley recently decided to leave his US$130,000-a-year job. He created an Excel spreadsheet called “Late 20s Crisis”, which he filled with potential options for his next move: Take a coding class, start mining Ethereum, join a 2022 political campaign and open a tourism business. “The idea of going right back to the pre-Covid set-up sounds so unappealing after this past year,” he noted. “If not now, when will I ever do this?”
It’s possible that some of these YOLOers will end up back in stable jobs if they spend through their savings, or their new jobs fail. But an adventurous spirit seems to be infecting even the kinds of risk-averse overachievers who typically hold on to the career ladder.
One executive at a major tech company said she and her husband had both been discussing quitting their jobs. The pandemic, she said, had taught them that they’d been playing it too safe with their life choices, and missing out on valuable family time. The executive then sent me a quote from the Buddha about impermanence, and the value of realizing that nothing lasts forever. Or, to put it in slightly earthier terms: YOLO.
【小题1】What strange things are US millennial workers doing?| A．They prefer doing work online. | B．They are taking more risks. |
| C．They enjoy playing chess more. | D．They are making extra money. |
| A．To encourage people to take brave moves. | B．To stop people making silly decisions. |
| C．To cover up a person’s past failure. | D．To gain trust from other people. |
| A．It didn’t pay well enough. | B．The business was in a crisis. |
| C．He missed the pre-Covid set-up. | D．He was eager for new changes. |
| A．The bad effect of the pandemic. | B．The significant influence of YOLO. |
| C．The potential danger of changing jobs. | D．The future development of different careers. |
