The Job Situation and Nearly almost 40.

So here's the thing...


My 36th birthday is coming up. I have a Master's Degree in Marketing and a Bachelor's Degree in Theatre. I made a pretty good run of having an acting career, and that was fun. I have no regrets in that area. Now I am dabbling in freelance Marketing here and there doing some editing for a friend and creating a consumer pipeline for another friend. A few things here and there.

The problem is not my ability, the problem is my day job.  If I had sat down and written down the worst possible job for me to have it would be the job that I have. I feel as if I've being punished by a Bond Villian. I work in customer care... taking  incoming phone calls.... and resolving customer complaints... for an Insurance Company!!!! This is wrong on so many levels. For one, I am a supporter of Universal Medicine. That can be discussed later and is not the purpose of this particular blog post. I merely bring it up to illustrate that my own personal dogma disallows me to be compatible with my job at which I spend 40 hours a week. I literally have to tell people stuff that goes against the core of my beliefs. For two, the job consists of having to deal with being yelled at a lot. People are upset when their medical treatments are not covered. Go figure. And since I'm the figure-head of what they believe to be the decision making entity, I'm the one who gets yelled at... cursed at... pleaded with... bargained with... cried at. Mind you, I have no actual power over anything. All I can do is read them their benefits and explain the existing claims. Some studies have shown that when a house plant is regularly yelled at it does not grow as well as one that receives positive verbal communication. What then does this kind of regular negative input do to complex thinking mammals?

In the mean time I am most certainly looking for another job, either by moving up or moving out. Every position that comes open within the company that I even remotely qualify for I have applied for. Plus, I peruse Careerbuilder, LinkedIn, Helpwanted.com, even Craigslist with a scientific regularity. As said earlier, I have consistently sought out freelance opportunities and continue to do so.

During this whole quest thingy, I have slowly come to the conclusion that among my talents and wishes is the need to write. Before I had this job I regularly attended a super awesome creative writers group, which helped to encourage me to seek feedback and continue to create. I had a pretty good roster of short stories building up... until my computer's hard drive crashed and wiped everything out. (And yes, several people have looked at it. There is no way to get the data back.) That really threw me for a loop, so combined with the new job I just haven't written anything significant since then.

But the thing is... That's what I'm good at!

Creative, scholarly, marketing research, PR pieces, petitions, letters to the editor... etcetera, etcetera... If something needs to be written I can normally do a pretty good job. When I was in highschool I was the student whose paper got read to the class. When I was in college, I soared through the assignments that involved extensive writing. As an adult making my way through the world I have been teased for using big words (my original draft said 'using verbose language'). My response to this has been that I do not have a list of what words other people don't know. And to kindly advise them to learn to read a dictionary.

My point is not to brag about what a great writer I am. My point I guess is that I know what I am supposed to do. I even know how to do it. On top of that I have some pretty good credentials to support my abilities. The problem again is my day job.

Sure I can do my best to work around it. But at the end of the day, after being yelled at by strangers, wrestling with two small children, and trying to job search online once the kids are down, I am physically and emotionally exhausted. I have nothing left... I have applied for jobs with Examiner.com and sought out similar jobs. Problem is they all require exisiting writing samples, and like I said my hard drive crashed, so no current samples.

In the mean time, I just keep going. Maybe eeking out a blog post once every six months... if that. So if anyone needs anything written, researched or edited, and you are willing to pay me, let me know.

Because I would like to quit my day job and get started at my career. 

The Coffee Party

Last Saturday I attended the first meeting of the local chapter of the Coffee Party. I signed the mailing list paper, so technically I am a newly minted member of the Coffee Party. So what does this mean to me? It means I want to find other Americans who are in my situation, who have been directly affected by the current Healthcare situation and economy. When we went around and introduced ourselves, everyone there seemed very involved. As in watching the news, following the webpages and headlines, collecting soundbites from Glenn Beck, Hannity and Limbaugh, passing them around and rolling eyes. Sure there was definitely an undercurrent of dissatisfaction at our current situation, but as far as I could tell I was the only one there representing a true and tangeable product of the system. I do not disparage any one for where they are, but I do wonder where are the others like me. Where are the people who have been wronged by the healthcare system? Where are the folks who can't find work because they are over qualified or under degreed? Where are they?

Another question that came to mind while I was there and which was raised by others present, is this: Since when is it considered subversive to engage in civil discussion? Why can't we ask questions and expect those questions to be answered in a civil and logical manner, rather than an emotional free for all that usually accompanies certain buzz words. Words like Universalized Healthcare, for example. What's the big deal? Why is it such a gasp-inducer to use this phrase? But it's SOCIALISM!! some would say. To paraphrase the woman at the meeting who harkened from Poland, "Unless someone has actually lived under socialism, they have no business calling anything by that name,"

To the best of my understanding, universal healthcare means nothing more or less than a tax supported system which everyone pays into and gets to take part in. How is that different from, say, the postal system or the highway system for that matter? If I am missing something, then by all means enlighten me. Please. I am angry, yes, but I am here for the conversation. I want to know what you think.

So lets do coffee.

http://www.coffeepartyusa.com/