The early-morning hum on Van Ness begins with two cars promptly towed from the front of my building at 7 a.m. Someone overslept and it will cost a bundle. Happily, one guy arrived at the scene of the towing and was able to drive away after they released his small Chevy SUV from the jaws of the tow truck. It then greedily went for an old Toyota that was probably a good car in its day but was looking a little weary though I’m sure the owner will be peeved to see it gone to who knows where. It’s a crummy way to make a living I would think, towing unsuspecting vehicles, but I suppose it could be satisfying if you have a mean streak or unaccountable anger. In any case, the laws of parking have to be enforced; there are not enough spaces for all the vehicles that are driven around this city. Better to take a bus or a taxi--rule of the street.
It’s an overcast morning, a little chilly though the weather report says sunshine in the afternoon. The weather report always says that in San Francisco, the meteorologists rarely vary their forecast even though sometimes a cold rain blankets the city all day. Somehow they never account for it. The radio is now broadcasting Prokofiev's Morning Dance from Romeo and Juliet.
The city is, like every other city, in a recession with high unemployment and a lot of sad people. I am one of them though I expect to be employed this week. I am feeling optimistic about a job interview I went on yesterday where I was finally able to shine. Shining is not getting hired however but I’ll try to stay positive if only for the sake of the children.
How are people enduring this time of such serious repercussion? Our credit is gone, some of us are in default and I can’t seem to think of anything but the economy and my plight, then the plight of the country and then the plight of Europe and I guess I can cover the globe with concern while I’m at it and have a few hours to kill. Mine is just a little plight but still it affects me daily, hourly as it does involve not paying rent and living on the street, not something to look forward to although I’ve never actually lived on the street. Some things are understood.
Everyone is looking for a job, trying to shine a little brighter after being down-graded ever so slightly. Who knew college grads would be looking to work in fast food? Although I don’t know anyone in fast food, I’m speculating based on an article in today’s paper. College grads are bitter having spent so much on their education and getting so little out of it now that jobs are supposedly scarce. I see jobs advertised but maybe the right people do not apply for the right job. This was also suggested in the article. The job interview I went on had more than three hundred applicants, I was informed but many were weeded out immediately for only sending an attachment without a cover letter. “A cover letter is paramount,” I was told. I write well so cover letters are no problem for me and I often get a response even when laced with hyperbole. I expect a good response from yesterday’s interview although am not at all certain. I sometimes mistake an amiable interview with success; I’ve made that erroneous call before. I wish in the case of the beleaguered manager yesterday I could just alleviate his burden and make the decision myself: “Okay, I’m hired. I start tomorrow.”
"And no matter how awful the job is, you have to do it until you find something else!" I sternly tell myself. That is the problem: maybe I'll get the job but then not want it so much. It could be really tedious, the hours and minutes an eternity and I would like to go home and take a nap at some point but can’t, I have to look alive and get through the day while secretly thinking what a mistake this job is, how much better off I'd be tending to my own business which only makes the day more intolerably exhausting.
Thankfully, my car hasn’t been towed. In reality, I don’t have a car which is a relief when you think of what a towing charge plus the ticket will cost. I also still don’t have a job which is a pain; I really need to pay the rent. One is easily evicted from a hotel although again, I’m only speculating, or is it projecting? I haven’t ever been evicted but my time is running out and a job is “paramount.”
I will end this with a note of promise; I really think I got the job yesterday. For once the interviewer didn’t look upon me with a dull disappointed derision for not being his ideal candidate; he may have been dreaming of Tina Fey or Cameron Diaz, depending. You never know what a tired, bored middle-manager thinks during the course of an interview.
No, he was charming, I was charming, the interview was a small miracle of charm. Now I’m waiting for the verdict. I hope he doesn’t take long or I will be evicted. At least my car hasn’t been towed and I have to spend the day retrieving it. The afternoon promises plenty of sunshine if it can be believed and that always improves the attitude. The radio now offers Schumann's famous Piano Quintet, a very fine offering indeed. I’m just waiting for a call and giving you this report that may or may not have any significance whatsoever.
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