Where have all the cowjobs gone?

When I first got laid off I was a little shocked, slightly upset, and somewhat itchy, but I decided to treat it as an opportunity to go and do bigger and better things with my time, as even if for less money it hopefully would call for a little more soul fulfillment. I worked in construction since 1999, and continually advanced in pay and stature since the beginning, but never quite enjoyed it. Although I didn't flat out hate it (constantly), I regularly had to convince myself that it wasn't so bad and that I should stop bitching about it day in day out. Abject tolerance I suppose. So after panicking for first three days of unemployment, I manned up to the thought that things wouldn't be so bad, and decided to pursue something I enjoyed. This was my chance to escape a field for which I had little patience remaining, the time to leave was years ago but I simply got a slow start, and needed that final exterior push. Goodbye construction, now comes the time when I must conceive something related to music, literature, computers, or booze to spearhead this new career endeavour. I have skills in each, a Bachelor's degree to boot, and since I secured my first freelance writing assignment and an interview with a newspaper within the opening 5 days of receiving Herr Axe, I figured this new venture would pose no problem whatsoever. Oh, what ill-conceived foresight. Since then I have had zero further writing assignments, and just one additional interview, which was for a construction job no less. Yes, I started applying to those even though I pseudo-vowed never to work in that industry again because I, much like Mr. T before me, need work.

Now, this isn't meant to be a tale of woe, at least on an individual level, because even after nearly 3 months of receiving no form of paycheck other than the government unemployment stipend, the woman and I are still stand on relatively okay financial ground, which I could attribute to me predicting a financial tsunami well over a year ago and not lining us up into debt as much as possible while trying, a little, to prepare for this worst, but really it is because said woman has always been frugal which has taught me much about stretching every dollar possible, even when not necessary because just in case, sometimes the unpredictable is, well, unpredicted, and furthermore whoa baby this sentence is eternally long, time to end it with a single misplaced word: buns. No, the point of all this is the following emboldened (embiggened?) sentence:

There are no jobs.


(click the image to see the whole thing, since Blogger's image size limits suck ass)

I look for jobs every day, and rarely do I apply for openings that are obviously well over my head, instead hunting for those that my qualifications appear to match, but it is pretty difficult to find any at all, and even more difficult to get so much as a "thanks, but no thanks" from anyone. Sure, my resume could just be shit, or perhaps my email is one of thousands per second received, part of the large chunk roundly ignored by an overwhelmed HR department, but the fact remains that this type of response is discouraging at best. Now, as I stated above, this isn't a call to Cry For Me, Argentina, so it is best I carry on to what it was I initially started this whole mess about earlier this morning, because contrary to former opinion I don't just make this all up as I go along. No really, I don't. Always. Anyhow.

The local factory didn't close, the state didn't suffer a massive earthquake, the country isn't going through a painfully individual period of growth/stress, no. This problem is global. Everything is adding up to a complete and total shitstorm, almost completely worldwide. Which, oddly enough, gives me hope. When one person falls on hard times, it is a personal tragedy laced with feelings of "well why doesn't he just get off his arse and ____________," no matter how secretly whispered such utterances are displayed. When a substantial group plummets, not tied to one singular entity, the world takes notice. Now, I don't expect some great banding togetherness good time happy fun For All Mankind, and I don't think "well, someone will do something about it!" because the only Something done was to give banks $700 billion to make sure their annual bonuses were paid, but when even the price of housing and gas has come down recently, I see that little money does, quite literally, talk. If there is no demand for even two of Western Life's basic necessities, does anyone really think that conspicuous consumption will survive this mess? I welcome this shift in attitude, and sure, it could be a flash in the pan once the credit cards markets thaw, but I'm hoping this attitude becomes everlasting throughout at least another full generation or three, much like the frugality witnessed by those that survived the Great Depression for years upon years. Last year I envisioned the torch and pitchfork chasing down the richers on Mulholland Drive, and while I don't quite see that happening anymore (except in my dreams), the possibility remains that enough will truly be enough, as the carrot is gone, and now is the time to target the rider, or at least give him a stern talking-to, refusing to purchase his uselessly peddled wares.

Now before anyone says BUT LESS MONEY SPENT MAKES THE ECONOMY WORSE LOLZ!!!11 I'll say shut the fuck up and go back to sucking off your god damn Visa commercials. The world still requires plenty of local services, and since oil is in finite supply, a bolstering of said localities should be more than in order by now, which, huzzah huzzah, will create work. Regardless of your thoughts of Peak Oil, the wells will all be dry some day, and planning ahead for anything known to be around the corner, whether said darkened alleyway is months, years, or decades away, can truly never be too soon. Bring back the local farms, build upon the already existing mass-transit rail system, and fund renewable energies as opposed to failing banks. It will take time, but while last year we needed it to secure our future, today it is required to heal the present. Put me to work!