Yesterday brought me one minor victory; actually it was more of a non-defeat. The rest of the day was less than stellar, so I’ll share the one good thing after I record a brief summary of the stuff that didn’t go so well.
I went out to do some focused job hunting using my special top secret guerrilla tactic: a folder-full of two different versions of my resume–one shows my union affiliation and the other omits it–and a list of prospects. The tactic is no phone call, no lame web-applying that gets NO RESULTS: I just show up at the place of business wearing a resume, a smile and willingness to start right away. Oh, and some decent pants. I’ve heard that most of the employers I want to work for will respect a man with pants on. The trouble was that I went out too late in the day and no one was in any of the offices I visited. Meeting them in person is an essential element of the tactic.
I got out of the house kind of late because I was…okay, it’s too late for me to start being dishonest now. It’s because I was screwing around with other stuff. I was looking through a web site that my President put up about how I could save money on my taxes (none of his tips worked for me) and the same with an H&R Block site that looked way too much like a quiz-app from Facebook. Neither one of those things did anything for me. Then I was screwing around with trying to look at a bunch of emails from the band. I haven’t been making gigs or practices in the past couple of months because I’m parking cars on Friday and Saturday nights which is when most band stuff happens. There are two upcoming gigs on Wednesdays, so I’m thinking I can redeem myself. But one of the Wednesday gigs is an audition that I would rather we didn’t do. It’s for some teevee show called America’s Got Talent. Don’t get me started. This kind of stuff is fluff entertainment the premise of which I can’t even think about without beginning to fume. They look for “raw” talent, select only the finest, then they flash-freeze it so it’s ready to pop into the microwave so that Americans can enjoy a healthy entertainment snack whenever and wherever. Processed and pasteurized!
The band I’m in is excited to be noticed by NBC and I can’t blame them, but this kind of “exposure” won’t really do anything for us. I wish I could tell them all how little it means, not to take it too seriously, not to let a freaking reality show steal part of their souls. But instead, I got caught up in discussing the set list. There will only be 90 seconds to audition. There will be no set list. Oh well…I think I at least helped provoke some of the crew to share their feelings about the whole mess, even if I didn’t personally come out rose-scented.
And my checking account has less money in it than I thought…
There was one minor victory yesterday that was actually more of a non-defeat: I got a notice that said that I wouldn’t have to pay a parking ticket I got this past December. I remember the night and the circumstances. Becky was decorating the Christmas tree and I forgot fora little while that my car was pulled up in the alley near the garage instead of being properly parked. I was momentarily riled when I saw the orange ticket on my car, but I quickly decided not to let it spoil my night. Instead, I looked at the ticket to see what they would consider proper grounds for contesting it. The violation was “parking in an alley”. I knew that I wasn’t really parked, so I wrote a note (it was actually a very short note. Can you believe it?) that stated that I wasn’t parked and that the violation never occurred. “Violation did not occur” was a bit of language I sampled from their “Grounds for contesting”. The notice I received yesterday said that an official review of my case had determined that the violation never occurred.
I felt as though I had spoken their language and ordered from their menu, so I got what I wanted. That was what I wanted to pass along to my friends today: you can’t always beat the system with original thought because they might not be equipped to understand what you’re saying, but if you can speak their language and ask for something they’ve offered–a constitutional right for example–they might just come through for you.
Or at least not fight you so hard.
I’m done writing. It’s 8 o’clock, time to rock.
