Wednesday, July 8, 2009

going to hell and looking for a job

actually---i think they might be the same thing.

yesterday i sent a resume to a tobacco company and just happened to make an offhanded remark about it on facelibre. something like ok, i if i get this job does it mean i'm going straight to hell?

the boy read it. (yes, both of my kids are on facelibre.) he turned from the computer and said, mom, i don't mean that i don't want you to get a job, but i don't want you to work at a tobacco company. this morning when i got up he asked me if i'd heard from the tobacco company.

i have come to realize that i cannot afford to be morally picky (to a degree, i mean i'm not going to start pole dancing. but then that's not really as much of a moral issue as it is an i-don't-have-the-body-nor-skills-for-it issue) in this quest for employment. initially i thought aha, here is my chance to work for a company i actually like. to reach for the best. to wear my rose colored glasses and find the perfect company but i have peeked over the rim of those glasses and realize that perfect company doesn't exist. for me the perfect company would be: local; making/promoting a product/service i admire or care about; having strong altruistic values; paying incredibly well (w/ bennies) and being flexible. yeah, i know, pie in the sky.

in this job search i am almost always reminded of dear lloyd dobler when frasier's dad asks him what he wants to do with his life: "I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that. "

*********
i have decided that companies really need my help writing job postings. looking on the government's web site there's a job for a resolutions & receivership clerk (i clicked on it only because the starting salary is like 20k more than what i made when working) the job says it requires 95-100% travel, including nights and weekends. really? who the fuck wants that job? another listing is for a motor vehicle operator. uh, isn't that a DRIVER? dude, you can make at least 30k being a fisherman for the government! did you know this? on board boats off hawaii, virginia, alaska, etc. 30k just to fish? i mean you could do a whole other job on top of that. of course i'm envisioning someone sitting in a deck chair w/ a pole off the side of ship and the job is probably something more like deadliest catch or something LOL. oh, another job? able seaman. do i even need to say anything about this one?? LOL and practical nurse---as opposed to an impractical nurse?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh god I am terrified, I'm going to be right there with you in just a couple weeks...although I quit my job willingly which is starting to seem like A MONUMENTALLY STUPID IDEA.

I hope the best job comes around and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Say Anything...

tracy

Pseudo said...

This might sound corny, but have you tried meditating, visualizing...

20 years ago we got evicted from our duplex after we had our first born. The landlord did not want children or babies in this complex. Totally illegal. We figured we would have looked for something bigger in a few months anyways. So we did not fight it.

It seemed impossible, at the time rentals were gone the first day, but I kept meditating on getting to where we needed to be.

On the, like, 100th rental we went to look at, we almost did not go because the landlord/owner seemed really weird on the phone. But we were down the street and went anyways. He selected us BECAUSE we had a baby, and it turned into the best place ever for four years. Landlord was so sweet (he lived upstairs) every Christmas he gave us back our December rent check as a Christmas present.

IB said...

If you get the tobacco gig you can always use your distaste for the product line as motivation to look for something else. It's always easier to find a job while you have a job. Meanwhile, you're supporting the family. We gotta do what we gotta do.

broad minded said...

ahh . . . Lloyd, weren't we all a font of wisdom as teenagers. sorry you are funkifying. let me know if i can help in any way.

and is that tracy i know that quit her job???

cheatymoon said...

I love the Say Anything reference, and I agree with Pseudo... it sounds weird, but I've had success with focusing on what I want, rather than what I don't want.

Hotch Potchery said...

I don't think tobacco company=definite hell. There are beer companies, liquor companies, and a lot of other companies that not all people are supportive of their products...but they are allowed to exist!

But I feel you on a "dream job"! And not working on anything bought, processed.

creative kerfuffle said...

tracy---dude--i just wanted to tell you i haven't been blowing off your comments. i've been responding to comments via email and have just figured out (yeah, i'm a wiz) that when it says no-reply--uh, i can't directly reply. sorry!

drollgirl said...

hahaha! you are cracking me up!

coincidentally, this morning i was musing about what i would do if phillip morris offered me a job for a million a year. a) this would never happen, and b) i am sure i would do it for a year, pocket some money, and then bolt! at least i think that is what i would do. :)

Pandora said...

Personally,I don't think there's anything wrong with working for a cigarette company,because there's nothing more morally wrong with that,than working for a mine or on an animal farm.At least not in the eyes of environmentalists or vegetarians.

Astarte said...

I wholeheartedly agree that people need you to write their job listings for them!!! I've been hearing this ad for a local Kmart distribution center, which, I shit you not, says, 'this job isn't for everyone; it requires eight hours of heavy lifting up to 75lbs in a non-climate-controlled warehouse. Some overtime will be required. But, we offer up to a $250 bonus each month!' Um, I'd pay THEM $250 to turn on the freakin' a/c!!! That one's been on for weeks, and I actually called DH to tell him about it the first time it was on! No WONDER they're still advertising!