"News that's not known, or not known enough."
Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion.
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"News that's not known, or not known enough." Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion. |
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A supersized stack of good advice
I didn't have enough money for a soda pop, so I felt lucky to get a temporary job holding a sign by the side of the road while a construction crew did repair. I felt lucky for about two hours. I lasted one day on that job Eventually I realized that I needed to do work for which I already had skills and training, which would, even though I disliked it, pay be some ok money and use my abilities. And that meant moving back to Civilization, or at least, near a big city in California. There's money in California and the people are multi-ethnic, multi-beliefs, multi-everything, ... really. What I did was mail out resumes and land an interview. Then when I got a temp job, finally, my family was willing to loan me just enough to live in a Motel 6 until I got my first paycheck. And that was that, everything was good after that. So, I don't know if that helps. But there are a few things I have learned in the years since. 1. Get comfortable in your own skin, so that you can handle a job interview and any tough personal questions. A good way to do this is to go to some 12 Step meetings 2. Get a copy of the book, How to Master the Art of Selling by Tom Hopkins. Tom explains how to persuade other people to do business with you. The key points of "salesmanship" are a) figuring out what the "customer" wants and whether or not you have that product or service; b) figuring out their "objections", which are their excuses not to hire/buy from you; and c) preparing yourself in every way to answer their objections properly (this goes back to item #1, feeling comfortable in your own skin.) One other key ingredient is giving people a "square deal" so that the people you do business with will want to repeat the experience -- this can be extended to every aspect of your life (think of it as a code of ethics.) 3. Various churches are in the business of actually helping people. If you, for example, figured out, correctly in my opinion, that you needed to move to a geographic location where there are tons of money and job opportunities, then you could actually visit each pastor in your town and boldly ask for help, like this: "Can you buy me a bus ticket to California, which I will repay once I get squared away in a good job out there?" If the pastor says no, then shake the dust off of your sandals and head to the next church. If all that doesn't work, then it is almost of Law of the Universe that an Opportunity will appear as a result of your inquiries and efforts. (Or you could just hitchhike if you are determined to Not Be Stopped If you did go to California, I would suggest picking a rich county in Northern California, like Napa or Marin. The idea is, go somewhere that is "nice", where there are nice amenities and lots of rich people. Other places in the West are good too, like Lake Tahoe, Shasta, Santa Cruz, Mendocino, etc. You'd still have the problem of shelter once you got there, but the richest counties have tons of money and lots of rich people who need good workers. I don't know what you can do, but health care is a huge business and is probably better than dealing with chickens Hang tough. Best wishes...
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