The topic of "jobs" continues. I'm currently reading Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. It is absolutely captivating; she quit her regular writing job and began to try to live as a person entering the workforce after being on welfare. She discusses the trials of finding cheap, safe housing, finding jobs and keeping those jobs, how hard the work is, etc. One of her main objectives seems to be to prove if it is possible to make ends meet working minimum wage jobs and living as cheaply as possible. The chapter about maids is truly alarming. Did you know that many of those maid companies, Merry Maids etc, don't actually clean anything on a microbiological level? Purely surface and visible cleaning is done. This book is really worth reading, if you're ready for a swift sociological kick in the ass. The people she talks about working with and the ridiculous practices and questions they are subjected to will open your eyes to the working poor right here in the United States. God, how lucky I am to be born into this life.
I think when I refer to books and things of that nature in this blog I will link to half.com instead of the usual amazon.com link. Half.com allows you to choose to buy a book from someone who is selling it independently (how I paid for pizza and other stupid expenses in college) and recycling it rather than getting a new book from Amazon (I know you can buy used from Amazon, it's just way cheaper on half).
I'm finally starting to see some results from my hard job searching and applying, if only little whispers of hope. An application status change here, an email wanting more information (essays, etc) there. These little notifications are far better than a denial or nothing at all. Did I mention that I applied to be a garbage truck dispatcher and was rejected?
In more interesting and entertaining news, because of my privileged background, education, and income I babysat for a friend today and the kid and I went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I've never watched Indiana Jones movies before, I guess Star Wars was enough Lucas/Spielberg for me in my childhood. Harrison Ford is still dreamy when he isn't Han Solo, even when he's 6o something years old... ESPECIALLY when he is an archaeologist. (spoilers, now): One of the main parts of the movie rested on the Mayan drawings of people with elongated heads. It is true that these people molded their heads to look longer but it wasn't because they were worshiping aliens. It was because they may have been worshiping corn, mas o menos. It's almost too bad that this Indiana Jones movie turned into something from Contact at the end. Also, why was there no explanation for the random "natives" that guarded the old temples and "important" ancient places? Boogy men guards at Machu Picchu? What's with that? Still entertaining, even if the movie probably taught thousands of people that several ancient Latin American cultures were governed by aliens. Also, the plot to begin with is still Team America: Fuck Yeah! what with the cute archaeologist trying to save himself as well as the fate of the world from those mean Commie Russians trying to brainwash everybody... What?! I guess I'm complaining a lot for a movie I did like- there were just some really strange plot points that maybe seemed like someone was on crack among the writers.
**Edit: after consulting the boyfriend it seems like all the Indiana Jones movies are on crack like this. My bad. This was my first one.
The best part of all that was the drive home. I talked to the 9 year old little guy I was babysitting about the Mayan ball game and he talked to me about the Native American stick ball game.
me: So the Mayans had this game kind of like basketball where they had a court and a ball and a hoop and they would play to the death sometimes.
kid: was there hundreds of them?
me: well I don't know. No one really knows exactly how they played it...
kid: THAT'S JUST LIKE THE NATIVE AMERICANS AND THEIR GAME THEY PLAYED TO THE DEATH TOO!
me: well theirs was more like lacrosse...
Showing posts with label Life Topics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life Topics. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
post college anguish
"Don't go to college! Look, if you don't know something, Google it!" -SNL
Advice seems to come from all angles when you're fixated on one topic. I tend to have "Life Topics" and "Daily Themes." I haven't had a Daily Theme in a while- but the Life Topic right now is very clear: JOBS.
Since graduating from college with a BA in Anthropology/Sociology I've been feeling a lot like Buster from Arrested Development. Buster is Michael's younger brother that is constantly in school and getting degrees in things that are useless. Examples given on the show include Archeology, Cartography, and doing studies to see how long people can be awake. Although he is very highly educated, he is portrayed in the show as being generally useless and childlike with no actual life skills.
Like Buster, my life seems to be seriously lacking right now. I've been surfing every job site on the internet every day for at least 2-3 hours if not more. I know every recycling-related job available in the country that has been advertised online. When I find a job that could be meaningful work for me, I apply and wait. It is so frustrating to put so much effort into the application process and rarely if ever hear back from employers. I had no idea how rude and fickle employers could be and ARE. No one tells you that at the career counselor's office. And I certainly don't have head-hunters beating down my door, cute Warren Wilson. Some days I do regret my major, but like I told a friend the other day, if I had majored in Environmental Science or something like that I would have been sad, confused, and my GPA would be too.
I think a lot of this anguish I have has a lot to do with the cultural requirement for some families to send their children to college before their children know what they want to do. The private college-prep high school I went to herded us all to college with a feverish enthusiasm to boost their own credentials while many of us were left bewildered- though we understood that this was the "correct" step after high school. I do understand that many people do discover what they like to do once they are in college and I also understand college for the sake of college. I just wonder how different things would have been had I taken that year off after High School. Would I be in my house eating Honey Bunches of Oats out of the box writing a blog about how grouchy I am that I'm still in South Carolina? I'm pretty sure I know what I want to do now (cute Warren Wilson!) but the frustration at some of my peers already getting to start their post-college lives makes me scared and jealous.
To add to this Life Topic, the unemployment rate hit 5.5% this week, the highest it's been since 1986 (the year I was born). Thanks guys! Thank you, George.
So to assuage my sour mood and maybe spark some interest in someone else, here is One Day One Job, a cool college grad site that has some pretty good articles about finding a job, using RSS feeds to help your search (I use bloglines), and other stuff.
Advice seems to come from all angles when you're fixated on one topic. I tend to have "Life Topics" and "Daily Themes." I haven't had a Daily Theme in a while- but the Life Topic right now is very clear: JOBS.
Since graduating from college with a BA in Anthropology/Sociology I've been feeling a lot like Buster from Arrested Development. Buster is Michael's younger brother that is constantly in school and getting degrees in things that are useless. Examples given on the show include Archeology, Cartography, and doing studies to see how long people can be awake. Although he is very highly educated, he is portrayed in the show as being generally useless and childlike with no actual life skills.
Like Buster, my life seems to be seriously lacking right now. I've been surfing every job site on the internet every day for at least 2-3 hours if not more. I know every recycling-related job available in the country that has been advertised online. When I find a job that could be meaningful work for me, I apply and wait. It is so frustrating to put so much effort into the application process and rarely if ever hear back from employers. I had no idea how rude and fickle employers could be and ARE. No one tells you that at the career counselor's office. And I certainly don't have head-hunters beating down my door, cute Warren Wilson. Some days I do regret my major, but like I told a friend the other day, if I had majored in Environmental Science or something like that I would have been sad, confused, and my GPA would be too.
I think a lot of this anguish I have has a lot to do with the cultural requirement for some families to send their children to college before their children know what they want to do. The private college-prep high school I went to herded us all to college with a feverish enthusiasm to boost their own credentials while many of us were left bewildered- though we understood that this was the "correct" step after high school. I do understand that many people do discover what they like to do once they are in college and I also understand college for the sake of college. I just wonder how different things would have been had I taken that year off after High School. Would I be in my house eating Honey Bunches of Oats out of the box writing a blog about how grouchy I am that I'm still in South Carolina? I'm pretty sure I know what I want to do now (cute Warren Wilson!) but the frustration at some of my peers already getting to start their post-college lives makes me scared and jealous.
To add to this Life Topic, the unemployment rate hit 5.5% this week, the highest it's been since 1986 (the year I was born). Thanks guys! Thank you, George.
So to assuage my sour mood and maybe spark some interest in someone else, here is One Day One Job, a cool college grad site that has some pretty good articles about finding a job, using RSS feeds to help your search (I use bloglines), and other stuff.
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