Gigonomics

Of all the words that have been created out the current global recession (if there is one, depends on who you talk to these days), I like the word gigonomics best. It’s the Word of the Month in the September 2010 edition of Reader’s Digest which defines it as – the science of cobbling together a series of small, often freelance or temporary jobs to make ends meet in a bad economy. This explains why the teller at the bank the other day, was also the same person who attended to me at the cell phone store hours later. When I asked him, if he had a twin who worked at the bank, his response was a rueful “No, ma’am, that was me you saw at the bank. Just trying to work things together, make ends meet”. There’s a similar (possibly more alarming story) in the Jokes section of the same edition of Reader’s Digest. Apparently a patient wakes up from surgery and finds that the nurse waiting on him in the recovery room, is also the person who had helped pick out interior colors for his house. Surprise! Surprise!

Gigonomics might just be catching on as a result of the recession but it might just be that people are discovering talents that were previously hidden under the arms of a nice cushy job à la the nurse who just happens to moonlight as an interior decorator, something she is good at and might be another way to pay the bills. A lot has to be said for people who step out of their comfort zones and channel their creative talents, rediscovering their purpose in life and maybe even getting paid for it.