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| Oh, you're a man! Sorry about that |
This is a cute little story. It does not have a happy ending, but the happiness of it can be found in the facts as they unfold. It is one of those realities that push the saying, "Getting there is half the fun" to the edge of the cliff. In this story, getting there is the only fun. Jo-El, his mother and I were having a supper of sushi since it was Friday and Lent. This was just two days ago. During the meal Jo-El answered his telephone even though he did not recognize the identity of the caller. His initial reactions to the call indicated that the caller was not sure who was on the telephone. Jo-El's reaction to the call was one of strained respect and politeness. After the opening parlay, we heard a low chuckle or two from Jo-El followed by a sincerely felt "I can certainly understand that." A couple more "hmm, hmm's" and a chortle and then the politer end greetings given through a smug smile and a shaking of the head. Mom, of course was the first to talk, "Who was that?" As he was putting his phone back into his pocket Jo-El informed us that the caller was calling him about a driving job for which he had applied. As he shook his head he informed us that the caller was rather surprised to hear a man's voice over the phone. In fact, he said, she was a little bamboozled. She didn't know what to say. When she recovered she explained that under the circumstances that she now knew, it was not possible to make him an offer of employment. The job, it turned out, was to transport women clients of a behavioral training clinic dealing with helping women with eating disorders. It was explained to him that because of that, they could not hire a man for the job. The caller apologized for the situation. Jo-El just laughed it off. What else could he do. So all three of us took it in stride and laughed it off. When things things go awry, you can't win for loosing.
Wait, there's more.
Later after our return home after sushi, Jo-El's phone rang again and this time it was his friend. This friend had introduced Jo-El's name to the company at which he works in the hope that Jo-El would be hired there too. Jo-El would enjoy working for this company since it offers work in his line and pays rather well. We overheard Jo-El's side of the call and it was a little mysterious. The post phone call debriefing was another one of those moments when "getting there is the only fun." The friend had received a gift certificate from the company for referring Jo-El, but Jo-El has not yet heard from the company. Naturally, his conversation with his friend was about trying to peer into the dark in an effort to see what the meaning of the gift certificate was in relationship to Jo-El's situation with the company.
All of this within little more than two hours in the life of a person who has been on the bricks for over a month.
I has to take a lot of personal courage and mental stability to put up with the challenges of the job search. I know, I've been through some interesting times in similar situations. One time I went 14 months before I found work in my line after being let go from a company that dumped me in favor of cronies whose jobs they were saving from the mother company in the Midwest. They had hired me because they needed someone to speak Spanish. Just short of a year into the job they jettisoned me because their friends were more important than my Spanish. Sound familiar, anyone? Thanks to you all for the prayers that you offer for this young man. Mom and I are glad that we were around when these things happened. It helped him to see the humor of it all.
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