Don't Belong

I've had a few people mention that my posts have been a little too sports oriented of late so I'm going to try to not rant about what's wrong with giving a 40 year old quarterback $750,000 everytime he takes the field.

(And no, I'm not talking about Jeff George, but couldn't you just look at that 'stache all day? No?)





I'm currently in my 8th week of unemployment and I'm starting to get the sense the unemployment world had just a little bit too much of me, too soon. The freelance offers from staffing agencies are less frequent. The job opportunities I see online are even more sparse than they've been.

Even the government is getting fed up. When I go online to verify unemployment now, I don't even have to answer questions anymore. I just type in the code from the last time I logged on, and boom, check in mail. It's like they're saying "Yeah, we believe you, stop buggin' us already, here's a check, go get some chinos and a job."

And while the purchase of some new chinos probably wouldn't help my cause that much, it certainly couldn't hurt it anymore.

My brother and I had a conversation not too long ago about how our parents' generation has screwed all of us. Back then, as long as you went to school and worked hard, it was possible to be successful. Those days appear to be long gone. Too many smart kids are finishing college today and not having a place to go work. I'd like to think I did it the opposite of people who take the summer off and start work. I started work and then took the next summer off. Not necessarily by choice, but regardless.

Now inevitably, after you've been unemployed for a little while, let's throw out an arbitrary number and say 6+ weeks, you start to think about other alternatives to the job you've wanted. I would like to stay in the advertising industry, preferably at an agency. Unfortunately, as I'm finding out, there isn't a huge market for junior copywriters with extensive Pearl Jam and Chicago Bulls knowledge.

So you start to consider things close to what you want, but not really. I'm sure I could apply for jobs on the account side, but the longer I did that, the more likely it would be I'd never get back to creative.

I talked to people from some Starcom/Mindshare. They couldn't even tell me what they did on a day to day basis. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it also wasn't a ringing endorsement.

Going back to school is all the rage! but it doesn't necessarily make sense for everyone. If I want to stay in creative, what good does an MBA do me? I'm convinced everyone when they're unemployed considers going back to school to get a teaching degree, but I'm not sure I should be shaping the minds of our youth (though I'm not sure some of my friends should be either, but that's another discussion).

So those are some of the more reasonable ideas. But I'd like to think I have other options, too.

While in high school, I led a game of bingo at a retirement home and one of the employee's there was so impressed by my performance he suggested I consider doing it on a cruise ship for several years (I should note some of the folks at the home said I clapped too loud at times, and they aren't the first group of people to complain about how loud I clap). I'm not saying I'm going to lead bingo as a career, but it's nice to have options.

Besides, if I did something like that, I'd rather go to a Club Med where I could ensure I get to dance to "Hands Up" everyday I'm employed there.

Dear god, somebody hire me.

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