It takes a lot to get one of us to write these days.  Alpha Man promised me a simple explanation of the crux of the Occupy Movement’s issues and he has yet to deliver.  Me, I am content for the time being just to be part of something.  Looking for an answer beats looking for a job. Probably because unlike a job, I know the truth exists.

However I had to tell you guys about this: M.I.T. is providing free, online education that now comes with a certified credential that exhibits mastery of the material. I am including the link below

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmarshallcrotty/2011/12/21/m-i-t-game-changer-free-online-education-for-all/

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So, a whole lot has happened.  So much in fact that it’s hard to decide exactly what to write about.  First there is this

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/business/law-school-economics-job-market-weakens-tuition-rises.html?_r=1

And if you’re here on this site you are aware of everything in the story linked to above.  What makes it newsworthy is that it’s in the New York Times.  I suppose I should be happy that one of the most widely read newspapers in the world has taken note of my specific plight.  But instead all I did was crack a beer.  Then I cracked another, and another and then I got REAL mad.  Is this how people who see parents murder their children all the time felt when the media found Casey Anthony? And now thanks to the NYT article…well, my life’s still over.  I’ve got this blog, I do my part to help the next generation.  All I am left with his emptiness.

But there’s more.  How about this

http://abovethelaw.com/2011/07/suing-law-schools-potpourri-tidings-from-law-schools-named-after-a-thomas/thomas-cooley-lawsuit-cl/

That’s right.  Kids like me are rising up and suing their law schools.  Read on to hear what I think about that.

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I am just beginning to come out of the acute depression of getting my interview cancelled for my dream job.  The sad thing was it wasn’t even so much the prospect of finally getting a job that enticed me, it was the opportunity for the dignity of putting on a suit and speaking with another professional in a competent matter about an area of law I happen to specialize in. I was talking to Triforce about it and he likened it to enjoying a date regardless of whether was going to be sex. He then laughed in my face.

The worst thing wasn’t missing the interview or the job that went along with it. It was the timing. When you’re unemployed and seasons are generally meaningless all calendar events sneak up on you. But it has recently come to my attention that Memorial Day is next weekend. The working world slows down and a glut of interns hit the market…permanent hiring is put on hold until after Labor Day. It currently is the 5th month of the year. Labor Day occurs in the 9th. So sad.

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So I landed an interview.  One cover letter out of the literally tens (yes) tens of thousands I have sent out over the past couple of years hit a bulls eye.  And I mean it hit a bulls eye.  I am talking about the exact department of my exact specialty. I received a call right away.  The HR woman was in contact with me everyday.  I had an itinerary and directions to the office.  I had a list of real people I could research on the company website.  I booked a hotel for the interview at their branch office.  I was all set to go.

It fell through.  Big surprise.  But its not so much that it fell through but how it fell through.  I’ve had a ton of interviews not work out and I had a laundry list of reasons in the back of my head – not enough experience, hasn’t worked in over two years, he’s too old, he’s too young, he has too many degrees, etc.  I had prepared myself for that disappointment.  But none of those reasons are the reason my interview fell through.

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Sigh.  So Mike Triforce went over how to network/ask for a job.  Now let’s deal with the opposite.  How to blow someone off.  First the story, then we’ll go over what was wrong with it.

I went to church with my mom and saw a woman I emailed four months ago about a job.  Yeah I know, I didn’t ask right but whatever.  The woman accidentally makes eye contact with me and says loudly in front of the whole congregation “I’m SO sorry for not getting back to you.” Now at this point I try to escape but I am boxed in by old people.  “I talked to the General Counsel” at this point I stop her and remind her that I was not applying for a legal position.  She continues “so I talked to General Counsel” I stop her and explain to her that to get a job in a GC office you need 10-15 yrs plus experience practicing.  She continues “so I talked to General Counsel and he referred me to our website.  Did you know we have job postings online? Maybe you should apply online.  I’ll keep asking around.  Hang in there champ.”

Now, let us begin with the critique.

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So Benito has been trying to recruit an underemployed blogger to join our motley crew, but is failing because obviously none of the candidates want to lose their job. But one of them did pass on a mandatory assignment a senior manager gave to his underlyings before the monthly meeting when they were to pay homage to his greatness. Read “A Letter to Garcia.” Here is the damn link

http://www.birdsnest.com/garcia.htm

I talked to the guy and he said he was hurt that his manager thought so little of them collectively that he would make them read what amounted a treatise on how they were so worthless as to be morally bankrupt human beings. Or at least that’s what he got out of it. You are probably wondering what this has to with Scalia. Getting to that.

My first reaction was this kid is a major loser if his managers have any ability to affect him emotionally. So I read the article…turns out it’s a turn of the (previous) century essay, penned on a lark, a 100 yr-old blog entry that could have been written by Rush Limbaugh. Then I got angry.
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I don’t care to feel things because usually when I do they are bad things. Disappointing things. Painful painful things. But every now and then something happens that causes the awful rays of hope to penetrate the familiar darkness that is the existence we have become so familiar with…and I hate it.

Usually it is an email. E-mails lack eyes. Eyes convey pity, dishonesty, annoyance, and a dull flint that discourages the false hope.

So you get the email. Suddenly you can taste your food again. You return messages you haven’t answered in weeks. You buy a beer for a stranger. You start to feel human. You begin to plan how you’re going to live your new life. Slooooow down there champ.

Sigh. Ok, I can’t convince you that it won’t happen. I can’t even convince you that the job that seems like the path to salvation probably only seems that way due to woefully lowered expectations. Buuuut maybe I can convince you that what you’re going through, regardless of outcome, is not unique.
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When your life is in shambles and the road from ruin is uphill and rocky there is a tendency for our brethren to convince themselves that the flatter road with smoother terrain also (might) lead to a safe place.  In other words, once we discover the real villain, we often decide this person is too powerful so we instead decide to pick on the gimpy blind kid who was just minding his own business.  It happens. We’re not perfect. However, sometimes we see two knights in battle, one for us and one against us, and we side with the one against us…not because we are frustrated with our own knight’s performance (which is what we claim) but because we can hurt our own knight more and we yearn to matter, or at least feel like we do. Now THIS is dangerous.

It is becoming somewhat chic for debtors, hipsters and young people to criticize Obama, essentially for not being the biblical messiah.  They use this criticism to justify their lack of participation in the political process and when criticized are quick to tell you how many doors they knocked on in 2008 and what Obama owes them, etc, etc.
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This isn’t exactly the season for embracing reality, especially for people of all ages who have but to ask in order to receive. So it’s particularly unremarkable that so many kids are in denial about 1) the size of their debt 2) the ability to earn a paycheck with the skills and degrees acquired with said debt and 3) the ability to earn a large enough paycheck over a large enough period of time to justify said debt taking into account opportunity costs, work/life balance considerations and other life goals. Obviously if our readers fell into this category they wouldn’t be reading our blog. The question is how does this ignorance effect you?

There are several categories to consider when evaluating what a pampered, over-educated and underskilled workforce -what it means for your own job prospects, the country, and your relationships.

What you probably care about most is your own ability to find gainful employment generally and in the field you studied. The net effect is poor. First the glut of these individuals allows employers to be choosy. If there is a younger version of you, you’re out of luck, if there is an unexplained gap in your resume you’re out of luck and regardless of your actual circumstances (injuries, sick or dying family, victim of crime) the assumption will be you were laid off for being the least valuable person in an organization. And this is AFTER you stop looking in vain for a job worthy of your degrees. This is Starbucks/Subway territory.

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Even I didn’t see this coming folks.  Obama makes a deal with the Republicans AND THEN it’s blocked by his own party.  This is…FANTASTIC!  It’s so good I hope this was done by design, but it could just be one of those things where a novice chess player in check wins the game for himself in the next three moves.  I for one hope a deal doesn’t get made and every single person’s taxes goes up Jan 1.  You can’t get a smaller paycheck if you don’t get a paycheck.  My foodtruck which deals only in cash I somehow think will be alright. As for the unemployed, I sympathize but if you are still eligible for any kind of benefits you are the newly unemployed and there are twice as many people out there whose benefits ran out, or for whatever reason (like not being able to find a job right of school) were never eligible in the first place.

But even if a deal does go through it’s still beautiful for Obama.  Republicans now have to choose between what Republicans hate most: agreeing with a black president or agreeing to a tax hike.  If  you’re a Republican both of those are simply non-starters.  I take no small measure of personal inspiration from this – if the President could turn a choice between a tax break for the rich and no more unemployment benefits and turn it into this then maybe I have a chance of someday leading a normal life complete with front door, non-bipedal transportation system and people my age or younger related by blood, marriage or adoption.

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