3 August 2021, Somewhere in the Metaverse - UplandDood (@Just1Dood) 

This article sounds a little morbid but here we go anyway.

Have you ever thought about your expiry date? Some of us touched on that subject when we took on the "Rather" challenge last month.

Regardless, that is an interesting thought, isn't it? I mean, all of us will have a final Expiry Date but how about the many non-final expiry dates? Have you thought about those? Non-final in the sense that it's not a curtain call yet.

Shall we look at some of these?

"Manufacturing" Date

Of course, we need to start with the manufacturing date. And we all know what that is. Oh yeah, I hear you. The definition of your manufacturing date depends on how technical and nitpicky you want to be. You may want to argue that this is the conception date but I don't really know if you can put an exact date on it. Possibly but I'm not aware and I'll not be researching to find out. You can do that. So, we'll take the easy way out. We will define your manufacturing date as the day you were born.

I wonder if from here on out, entropy takes over. Does our body start breaking down immediately? Maybe someone can help me out here. I want to use the word entropy because it makes me sound smart but that may not be the correct word to use.

Yeah, chaos is probably a better word. From here on chaos take over, especially for the parents. It will be chaotic for many years to come. Ask any parents.

Education Expiry Date

For the sake of time and length of the article, we've jumped quite a few other expiry dates. Expiry from being a baby. Expiry date from grade school, etc. And finally, the expiry date from formal education.

This is the date where we will likely no longer go back to any formal education. We are headed out to the dog-eat-dog working world.

Work Expiry Date

This period of time is probably the longest period we'll go through in our whole lifespan. It can also be the toughest period of time that we go through.

Oftentimes, our smaller period of validity falls under the mercy of those who pay for our utility. There are many factors that can affect this utility such as the relevant experience, character, health (mental, emotional, psychological, and physical), skills, emotional and intelligent quotient, etc.

Once these are no longer valuable, we kinda expire from work. We are no longer needed. Some would go as far as to say - discarded.

Period of Validity

One impact on our work validity period is being a conforming member of society.

Despite having all the utilities mentioned earlier, one can have the validity period cut short or gravely affected if one ends up being convicted in a court of law and incarcerated for a period of time. Finding work after incarceration will then be an uphill task. A possible vicious cycle entails.

Another validity period impact that not many thinks about has to do with your utility. It is called the Peter Principle. Do get a copy of this book by authors Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull.

The Peter Principle states that your competence will result in your promotion. This continues until you are promoted to a level where you will no longer be competent...i.e. incompetent. I highly recommend anyone who's working to read this eye-opening book.

Obviously, once you have reached a level of incompetence, you have reached your expiry date at that job. Can this expiration date be extended? Read the book.

After Expiry Date

I am prone to changing the rule of the game. Read some of my previous articles and you'll find one or two more where I have done the same.

It's my article, it's my thoughts, it's my experience. I will do what pleases me as long as I play it nice and be respectful.

So, the expiry date viewpoint is a little fatalistic, don't you think? In fact, we can think along a different line of labeling practice. Let's call it "Best Before Date".

This in effect means that we can stretch the so-called "Expiry Date". It applies to all of the above. I mean, if you want to act like a baby until you are 21 years old or beyond, that is your prerogative, right? Yeah, you are right...some do.

Best Before...

Life would be better if we follow the "Best Before dates". It gives us more room to play around with. We can continue with our formal education no matter what age group we are in.

We can continue to work regardless of our competency or incompetency. It is also a reason why we find so many incompetent people in so many organizations.

At a personal level, we should live like the expiry date is near but plan like that's a best before date.

This gives us some urgency to prepare. Okay, this article started out with a promising idea but it kinda fizzled out. I have expired my ideas. I better go back to rhyming.

Thank you for reading. Come on, it's time to rhyme!

Sources:

Header: Unsplash.com - Charisse Kenion

Image 1: Unsplash.com - Vasily Koloda

Image 2: Unsplash.com - Huy Phan

Image 3: Unsplash.com - Bud Helisson

Thank you again for dropping by. Have fun with English. Remember to share your experience in the comment section.

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