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| Rob's Soapbox | ||
May 18th, 2009 NOW WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE? On Friday, May 15, 2009, we once again discussed the current economic downturn. Specifically, we talked about people struggling to find work and my disgust with people who accept unemployment, live off of others, and allow themselves to be unemployed. As I explained, I find it to be selfish, pathetic and demeaning to waste one day unemployed in the country that provides more opportunity to work than anywhere else on Earth. I think you are soul-less if you allow yourself to be unemployed at a time when you need an income. (In other words, if you’re Paris Hilton, you’re soul-less for reasons other than not having any real job or talent). As always, the excuses rolled in: What about those of us that got laid off unexpectedly? The list is endless and my answer is the same to all of them; get a job, find a way; refuse to allow anyone else to be responsible for you. Then came Ken the painter; who called and claimed that my position was unfair to him because of how hard the construction industry has been hit; he’s different, he argued, because no group of workers has been so badly affected by the recession as construction. He also made sure to take a cheap shot at me for “having it easy and being lucky.” I informed him that the radio industry has suffered devastating lay-offs beyond the construction industry and that the largest company in the radio industry is on the verge of bankruptcy. Those of us still employed are the valuable ones; perhaps Ken should have made himself more valuable. http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-1/1242462890287170.xml&coll=2 I offered this caveat though; if all radio companies went bankrupt tomorrow and there was no one to buy our show, I would do something else the next day. Serve tables, work retail, paint. Whatever it took, even though radio is all I’ve done for 20 years. Then came Patty the helper; she called and said that I should actually do it; go out, find a job and record the whole process. Patty thought that if I succeeded, I would prove the whiners wrong and shut them up. As I explained, it’s an effort in futility. People would find new excuses to justify why it was so easy for me to find a job; it would be everything from “it’s because he’s on the radio and it’s all set up,” to “he got lucky,” to my favorite explanation of all-time, “whatever.” People who make excuses and are willing to accept failure are not motivated by being shown how wrong they are because they are not motivate-able. If they were, they’d be motivated to make more of themselves and control their own destiny. Such people have a job; it’s the full time challenge of making excuses for their own worthlessness. Later on during the show, we had switched topics, but I received an email that said the following: As I just explained, such a challenge is an effort in futility. The letter writer will simply find something idiotic to say if I were to take the challenge and succeed. Most likely, he or she would just call me a liar. As I’ve said a million times in the past, if the only position you have left to argue is the dishonesty of your opponent, then you have already lost the argument. What’s the point? Is this third grade? Are we just going to shout “no you didn’t,” and “yes I did,” back and forth to each other? Grow up. Alas, on a whim, I took the challenge. As I drove home Friday morning I stopped off at a book store. I go there weekly; and for seemingly many months there has been a nicely typed note in the window that begins “now hiring motivated personnel…” No one that works at this book store has ever indicated in any way that they listen to our show or have any idea “who I am.” The majority of the employees are old and/or crusty; like Dawn. Something struck me as I looked over the magazines. I walked to the customer service counter and asked for the manager; I did not say why, nor was I asked. I simply sternly said that I wanted to speak to the manager. Two minutes later a nice enough, mature, probably 50 year old woman came bounding out to me and asked how she could help me. “Hi,” I said, “I’m a fairly regular customer and I’ve noticed that sign in the window for many weeks that you’re hiring. Do you mind me asking how it is that in this economy, with double digit unemployment in this state, you can’t fill that position?” I said it in the nicest tone possible and added, “please understand I’m not judging your managerial or hiring skills, I’m just a little stumped…did you fill the position and just forget to take the sign down?” “I wish,” she said. “And it’s positions, plural. We’ve offered the jobs to a dozen people and they’ve all turned us down, saying it didn’t pay enough or they weren’t really interested or they demanded benefits right away, those sorts of things.” “Really?” I exclaimed. “Let me ask you, have you also not offered the job to certain candidates because you feel they are overqualified and/or may only be looking at this job as temporary until they find something better and you don’t want to hire them and lose them 3 weeks later?” “No way,” she said. “That’s an urban legend; especially in this line of work. We have tremendous turnover all the time, it’s part of what I do. We’re always hiring, basically, and I certainly wouldn’t not offer someone the job because they were over or under-qualified; it’s selling books after all, not launching the space shuttle.” “Hmmph,” I murmured, “how do I go about applying for the job? Do I need to fill out an application?” She looked at me, clearly shocked. She kind of gave me the up and down once-over, examining my dress slacks, nice shoes and polo shirt (I was off to the golf driving range after this). “You’re interested in the job?” she asked Now, I have to tell you that I had a brief morality moment at this point. If I in anyway let on that I was simply testing the premise, it would ruin the experiment. At the same time, I didn’t want to lead her on. Sadly, that was the only way to finish the exercise. “Yes,” I said confidently. “I’d love the opportunity to talk with you about the position.” And then, right there in the middle of the store she interviewed me; sort of. She never asked my experience, my education, or my qualifications. “What kind of hours are you willing to work?” was first. “I’ll do anything I have to whenever I have to,” was my response. “You realize that it only pays $10 per hour and benefits are not guaranteed or even offered for at least 90 days?” “That’s fine with me, ma’am, I just want to work,” I replied. “When can you start?” she asked. I looked her in the eye and said, “Are you telling me that you’re offering me the job, just like that?” “You are well spoken, clearly motivated, clean cut and obviously smart. I have no idea why you want the job, and regardless of whatever your background is, it’s clear to me that you are overqualified to do anything I can offer you…but I’ll be darned if I don’t need someone, anyone to work here, even if you leave tomorrow, I’d be thrilled to have you.” Well now I really felt bad about leading her on; but I also felt completely vindicated. I came clean with her, introduced myself and told her why I had just done what I had done. She said she had never heard of me or the show but was going to start listening. We spent a very pleasant 10 minutes discussing her frustrations at all of the excuses and lies she hears from people about their inability to find a job. The only awkward part of the whole exchange came when I asked her to come on the air with me Monday. Not only was she not willing to do that, she specifically asked me to not identify her or her store. She is afraid that she and/or her company will be branded negatively if her comments were attributed to her. Based on her experience, the state of the work force is so atrocious that demanding motivated people and speaking out against free-loaders are considered beyond politically incorrect; they’re deemed to be mean, cruel, and unacceptable. I promised her I would abide by her wish, telling her I would only identify the store as a “bookstore in the Sacramento area.” So there it is. Cowards will cry that the entire story is fabricated, pointing out the convenience of the manager denying permission to have her store identified. So be it. If you really want to find work, and not make excuses, you’ll drive to every book store in a 30 mile radius of Sacramento and look for that sign in the window, knowing that a job awaits any well spoken, well dressed human with a pulse, regardless of experience or qualifications. To those of you who hold the position of Ken the painter and the letter writer that challenged me, what’s your excuse now? I can’t wait to hear, because I know you’ll have one.
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