A chapter closes

For nearly ten years I have worked for the Los Angeles bureau of a major Asian news organization (I would mention the name, but my boss told me the company may sue if I publish anything in the future that states the name of the company). Friday was my last day.

The company wanted me to leave. I was told that my salary was too high. I think the company didn't like the fact that my two children were born while I was working at the company, and they and my wife were a drain on the company's generous health care benefits.

My boss told me that I was not suited in the long term for journalism. Most people who work in positions like mine stay at the job for two or three years, and move on to something else. Most are recent college graduates, and have fewer family obligations. They live and breathe the news on their off days and while at home, something I was doing less and less as my children were born.

I enjoyed my time working for the company. The daily business of working in the news is inherently interesting, and I had the chance to help cover some historic news events, like the 2000 presidential recount in Florida and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Career-wise, I no doubt stayed too long at the same position, though working for four bureau chiefs was a little like having four different versions of the job. And if I had developed more contacts and better working relationships, I should have been able to find another job related to the news industry.

Instead, I planned for most of the last few months to train to become paralegal. But after talking to a half dozen people working in the field, I finally decided I would not enjoy the work, or be able to handle the long hours with my family's needs. Right now, I am planning to learn to be a computer technician from my brother-in-law, who has a computer consulting company. Apparently he has some connections, and can get me a job somewhere. But it doesn't feel right somehow, probably because I don't think I am naturally computer-oriented.

I've gotten to like working in downtown Los Angeles, despite the traffic and fears of terrorism and natural disaster. It was convenient to be within walking distance of the post office and bank, dozens of restaurants, the Metro Red Line station, and the Central Library, as well as a short drive from my doctor's office and my daughter's preschool. There are lots of interesting things going on in the area, though I haven't been able to go to as many as I would like, especially in the last few years.

But now that I'm not in the daily business of journalism, I'm glad not to feel obligated to put work before family in case some disaster should happen. I have imagined that I would be fired from the job if, immediately after a major earthquake, I left to get my daughter from preschool and made sure my family was safe, instead of working to cover the event.