I think the first thing I notice when I'm in between jobs is how quickly I lose track of the date. Days of the week are usually easy enough to figure out - Oh, House is on tonight, it must be Monday. Pizza Pizza has free online ordering today, it's Wednesday!
But the date? Unless I seek out a calendar, my best estimate will get you the month, and even that with only a 90% degree of accuracy (ask me again on the last week of May and I might think it's June already).
Case in point: today I drove my car to the dealership to have some annual maintenance done, only to find out that my appointment of Monday, May the 18th, 2010, was not going to happen today, and was highly unlikely to occur at a later time either. (Note: for this to be amusing in a few weeks time, please note that today is Monday, May the 17th, 2010. Thank you.)
Remember the scene in the movie Castaway, where Tom Hanks is talking with Wilson about how long he's been on the island? There's a shot of a tally-score he's carved into the cave wall of how many days he's been marooned. Robinson Crusoe keeps track of the days of his ordeal, and I'm sure if you dig through the literature you'll find that anyone marooned on an island does the same thing. (Aside: Do you think that Robinson Crusoe ever did the 'who's-on-first' routine with Friday? "What day is it, Monday?" "No, Friday." "No, Monday." etc.)
The point is, being unemployed is a little bit like being on a desert island. You cast your resumes off like notes in a bottle, hoping someone, anyone, will find them and send help. You sometimes see opportunities for work pass you by, like watching a plane flying far overhead, or seeing a cruise ship float by on the horizon. You're lonely, frustrated, wondering what you ever did to deserve such a cruel fate - unless, of course, your last job ended with the words "call security!" - and you're down munching on ramen noodles like Tom Hanks cracking coconuts for dinner.
So here's me marking my cave wall with a sharpened rock. Someday soon, a bottle will wash ashore on some kindly HR manager's desk, and this interlude on the island will be over. And that is one date I won't forget.
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It's a sad post - and a funny post. I can't figure out which. But I do know that I will keep my fingers crossed that your bottles find a kind HR manager soon.
ReplyDeleteI very much know how you feel. While it could be said that I am technically employed (by myself?), I have very little sense of the date. Often I even have very little sense of the day of the week!
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping your bottle reaches the right desk soon. :-)
Here's my general rule - train children to do everything for you. I don't know the date, but one kid writes it on the board each day before school stars, and the rest copy it down.. I just sign my messy messy signature on their homework journals to make it SEEM like I know what's going on. I go one page ahead in my "daybook" (aka a word file) and do whatever is on that page. Woe to me if I scroll too far ahead accidentally!
ReplyDeleteOf course, for that plan to work, you have to have an army of easily trainable kids around... Whatever will I do when I quit this school and move into my parent's basement?!?
I like the blog - Looking forward tot he next installment!