Thanks to Deb for posting this video of Kristin Chenoweth.
Who knew that love could be so caffeinated??
I am auditing a philosophy class at the local community college. It starts next week, and I’m already talking myself out of it. These are the things I’ve said to myself:
- Where am I going to find the time?
- What if I’m the oldest person in the class?
- I don’t have a good backpack.
- I need new school shoes.
- Kids these days. I don’t like the look of ‘em.
Who am I? Grandpa Simpson? If ever there was a time in life to step out of myself and into the capable hands of a philosophy professor, it’s now.
My excuses are so ridiculous. It reminds me of the conversations I had as a Human Resources manager with colleagues who were stuck in a job that sucked. I worked with colleagues who had every excuse why they couldn’t change their lives. They would provide myriad reasons as to why they couldn’t make a different choice. I would end the conversation by saying, “This is America. If you hate your job so much, go work somewhere else.”
So I’m going to take that approach with my own unemployment. I have nothing to do besides feed kittens and shop, and I am getting dumber by the day. Unemployment is meant to be a period of self-discovery, but I’ve caught myself reflexively falling back into old habits of making excuses and being lazy. The truth is that I’m still living the life of a corporate slacker (not getting up from the computer very often, drinking too much coffee, wasting time on the internet) except that I’m wearing yoga pants instead of a Talbots suit.
I realize that –
- It wouldn’t kill me to watch less television.
- I wouldn’t curl up and die if I talked about Human Resources less often.
I will absolutely take the class because it’s paid for by my former employer, but I am officially copping to a certain level of anxiety. There. I said it. The woman with all of life’s answers is nervous about taking a class where she just has to show up and listen — no tests, no papers, no effort.
I didn’t show much understanding and empathy for colleagues who felt “stuck” in the past, and I’m kind of sorry about it. I am slowly learning that the process of unsticking oneself is not as easy as it once seemed to be…
…but please…
if you really hate your job, just quit, already. No one likes a whiner.
Jack Vinson directed me to this site, which included instructions on how to write a resume your recruiter will hate. (Have you seen this before?)
Leave all contact information off your resume. We love a mystery! It is so convenient having to wait until we get a reply to an email to find out your phone number and location.
Make sure you have an objective listed that has nothing to do with your experience or the job you have applied for.
Don
I love The Boss of One and her husband, Stephen Covey. They came over, tonight, and saved me from my insanely boring life of four adult cats, six kittens, and passive jealousy directed at my husband who is away on a trip.
Instead of cooking them frozen pizza (because I’m classy like that), we had low-budget Italian food at a local restaurant and then came back to the kitten shack for some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. (I love the Ben & Jerry’s website, by the way. Who knew that Chubby Hubby isn’t one of the Top 10 flavors?!)
I’m going to give the Peach Cobbler ice cream one more try in a post-dessert dessert rendezvous in the kitchen. Care to join me, anyone?
Oh, and they love Pep
I flinch when I tell people that I am unemployed, so now I’m saying, “I write for a website.”
I’ve also said, “I work from home.”
Additionally, “I consult.”
This period of my life is helping me to better understand what it feels like when I reorganize a department and eliminate jobs. It’s not that I didn’t have any empathy before my unemployment — but I didn’t have the kind of deep understanding that I have, right now.
I’m bigger than Human Resources (thank god), but the role of Corporate Slacker is tough to shake.
