We All Want to Say 'F--- It.' But We Can't

Emily Gould reflects on her own memorable exit
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 23, 2014 1:23 PM CDT
We All Want to Say 'F--- It.' But We Can't
Charlo Greene rather abruptly left her job.   (TODAY)

"F--- it, I quit:" When reporter Charlo Greene dropped an on-air F-bomb and publicly told her employer to shove it so she could go do something she'd rather be doing, well, we've all been Charlo Greene. But particularly Emily Gould, who really did quit in a blaze of glory. Only, she writes at the Guardian, while it felt righteous and satisfying to call out her employer, Gawker, on her way out the door, the reality wasn't so glorious. "I wanted to make a big ideological point, and I had but one weapon in my arsenal: a pulpit that I could use to denounce the very thing that had given me a voice." Unfortunately, in quitting, "I lost that weapon as soon as I used it."

And while Gould survived, "it took years before I worked another full-time job." And she's pretty sure she knows why: "It was that no one was quite prepared to trust me." But the reason that we adore people who say "f--- it" is because they echo "the tiny part of all of us that wishes we could ... be so honest and so irresponsible. But refusing to give in to those impulses is what keeps society functioning, and what makes us—as individuals—adults." Sure, "f--- it" feels great to say, "but it's fleeting." Click for Gould's full column. (More Charlo Greene stories.)

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