I have worked for myself for more years than I can count, so it was with a shock I discovered I had no place to go, once the decision was made to stop working.
I found myself looking in the wanted ads column of the paper to discover I was not qualified for any of the minimum wage jobs being offered, so I sat my computer down while unemployed, and started to create a work history.
The first step I took was to fill out an employment application; surely people will recognize my talents and offer me a job. Anything to keep my mind occupied and share all these ideas I have accumulated during my journey on this earth.
Last name first. That only reveals I have borrowed somebody else’s last name to use for the remainder of our days together. Does it mean I understand where it came from? Who gave this name to this person? No, it only means a man has allowed me to use his father’s last name so I can be recognized as his partner in life and mend his socks and clean his house and bake his sweet breads; it also means that my own last name is gone forever and forgotten.
First name second. Immediately this doesn’t make any sense. It is the name my mother gave me at birth which reveals where her mind was at the time of delivering this middle child. It also means my mother could not spell or pronounce the name well enough for the nurse in charge to write it down correctly. The source of my first name came from my mother’s love of French literature as she named me after the island to where Napoleon was exiled; the nurse wrote it down wrong. What a way to start your life.
Middle name: To be nice to one of her sisters, my mother named me after the Sorrowful mother of Jesus. How does it feel to go through life being sorrowful? I have a wonderful, exciting, positive outlook in life so the name doesn’t feel comfortable or right. But since I love my mother so much, I have not erased it from my name, and only use the initial on all legal documents.
Address: does my potential employer want to know how I happen to live at this location? Are they interested in the location of the house to determine whether I can become a part of their work-family? Perhaps I live on the wrong side of town and after all these years I now become aware of it. Will I have a better opportunity if I live somewhere else?
Last employer; are they interested in really finding the cause of why I am unemployed at this time? Or they want to call the person in charge of human resources at the last place I worked and find out the dirty on me? Human Resources: is this a play on words? Or is there an Animal Resources department also? These are the people employed by an organization getting all the benefits of labor while doling out certain amounts of their capital to avoid conflicts in the workplace. Wow, that’s a mouthful. However, when you call them for a reference, all they say is the person was wonderful and will be re-hired if the person wishes to return to work. What a lie, they couldn’t wait to get rid of that person.
There are more things to ponder while I fill out the rest of the information on this employment application where I cannot tell them, really tell them, who I am and what I can do for them, where I come from, where I think I’m going or whether it’s feasible or appropriate to spend the time in their company. I wonder if they will hire me…