Get a Job!

... Sha, na, na, nah... Sha, na, na, na, nah...

Yeah, this girl's gotta work (blogging sure ain't payin' the bills...).

I'll tell you, it's HARD out there!  I've been trying to get back into the "regular" work force after running my own successful textile/print design studio.  The industry kind of took a nose dive in the past few years - thus the job hunt.

I remember when I was first married and signed up with ONE temp/personnel agency. Man - the phone rang all the time and the agency would just say, "We have a two-week job answering the phones and filing starting tomorrow.  It pays $9.00/hour.  Here's the address - be there by nine sharp."

Easy, peasy.  The money was constant and the jobs were forgettable but fine for the time being.

NOW, 20 years later, the phone RARELY rings from the THREE temp/personnel agencies I'm with, and when it does, it's, "We have a company that needs someone for two-weeks. They need you to know the entire Microsoft Office Suite, prepare a Power Point presentation, do some online marketing, man the phones, do some data entry, etc., etc... Oh, and they're willing to pay $9.00/hour (well, THAT hasn't changed...).   No lunch break either, unless you want to come in an hour early. Let's set up an appointment for your interview!"

Really?  

Aaargh!!  I'm really climbing that corporate ladder of life!  More like I'm "Slip N' Sliding" down the crevices of hell...

Listen, I'm willing to work hard.  I even risked my own life when I lived in L.A. in my 20s and worked as a door-to-door encyclopedia salesperson, in WATTS. You remember the riots in Watts?

Yes - THAT Watts.  (Hey - I thought I was helping to enrich the lives of the "down-trodden."  I remember wearing my best Norma Kamali native-print dress to try to connect and "fit in".

Really? 

What an idiot!  I'm surprised I'm not dead yet with all the stupid things I've done...

I have a good work ethic.  I just didn't go the traditional work route that my college roommates and other friends did.  I never wore one of those infamous female "suits" my friends wore when we first graduated.  Remember them?  The blouses with the matching huge bow around the neck?  Think Melanie Griffith in "Working Girl."

"Pretty"....

Well, those bow-tied college friends did ok with sticking with their conventional jobs for years. They're able to see the retirement light at the end of the tunnel now.  But I, the non-traditional one, am working on reinventing myself, once again!  A lot of them chose to get on the Merry-go-Round... and that's a nice ride.  Some of them have even been lucky enough to catch the brass ring.

But, me?  I chose the Roller Coaster. It's fast, unpredictable and you never know what's around each bend.  I've had many opportunities to get off and choose another ride, but I keep jumping back on this one every time it ends.  I love it...

(Now, my husband loves "Whack a Mole"... not sure what THAT means.  But, that's a whole other topic...)