So it's hard not to think, sarcastically of the Alanis Morrissette song from about 10 years ago.
"Thank you, crap economy. Thank you, false-premise-peddling former employer. Thank you Pres-i-de-ehnt Buush!"
But I'm starting all wrong.
In short, until last Friday, I was a journalist. A pretty good one, no real big awards or anything, but good enough that I'm unaware of any former bosses or co-workers who reach for aspirin when they hear my name.
Then, the economy. And my company, specifically, which had hired me exactly six months earlier, and told me they didn't care if they made money until 2012. Sounded pretty good, as speaking as a (former?) journalist, a goal of making money at all sounded infectiously ambitious.
For six months, this was a very good gig. Taking sources to lunch? Comped! A bus pass to both reduce carbon footprint and the joy of finding parking in a downtown city! Comped! Salary? Enough to buy my fiancee a decent dinner once in awhile! It was crazy!
And, like just about all journalism jobs that combine decent money, exciting stories and a minimum of fertilizer, it didn't last.
Which brings me to today.
Friday, Dec. 12, was my last day in that job (since the layoff word came down at about 8 a.m, it wasn't the most productive day. I may have scratched myself on company time.).
Today is my first day.
Of, well, I wish I knew what.
All the first few things I should be doing have been done, that is, the sending of the resumes and the calling of the old workplaces and the thinking of the coffeehouses that do seem to always be hiring.
That's led me to this, doing one of the most cliche things I can think of: Blogging about being unemployed. An unemployed writer, even. Shameful.
But there is a purpose here. I just need to figure it out -- nah, I know. This is therapy. And a way to kill some time in between seeing if my Hotmail has anything more hopeful in it than a notice of a Macy's sale (which always irritates me, because I only got onto Macy's e-mail list when I bought a wedding gift online last year).
What will it become? I dunno. I hope it ends tomorrow, with me being offered another job.
But if not, well, it's a place to write. And work some stuff out. And if I decide to let others know about it, even maybe keep someone (anyone?) mildly entertained.
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It's both a blessing and a curse, isn't it?! On one hand, the world is your oyster. You could conceivably do anything under the sun without a single person looking at you cross-eyed and wondering why you gave up "security" for the next big thing. On the other hand, looking for a job when you already have a job allows you to enter the market with a certain air of confidence...and confidence sells well.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you, my dear friend. You're one of the best reporters I ever had the opportunity to work with. I know you won't be among the unemployed for long.