It seems that, little by little, my job search/freelance year has taken
on properties of a variety of children's books. Perhaps that's a
function of my few years exploring children's media. More likely, it
means there are a lot of life lessons we grown-ups can get from kids'
books.
My son loves this one about the peddler, the caps, and the monkeys. And
who wouldn't? A chance to see monkeys, almost like children, poke fun
at a grown-up--it's great!
But as we were revisiting the book this week, the man with the caps kind
of reminded me of the job search sites I've come upon this past
year--he has all these caps on his head, and he's shouting to the world
about selling them, but does he ever really sell any? And if he does,
will the 50 cents really do anything for him? There are lists and lists
of jobs out there, but do they ever really get filled? And are people
really looking to find skilled labor--with a skill set that could take
years to build--for 10 dollars an hour?
A lot of people at all levels are unemployed, I get it. But when I see
kids finishing college and finding a world where they can make more by
continuing their college babysitting jobs than by finding work in the
field they studied, I worry. What are we teaching our kids when we
stress how important college is to their futures, then make it nearly
impossible to find a liveable future once they are out? Jobs, jobs for
sale--we are led to believe they are out there, but only if we knock on
just the right virtual door, saying just the right keywords, AND we are
willing to work for less than what we pay our babysitters, who keep
babysitting because they have a hard time finding work that pays more.
We might as well be peddlers with heads piled high with caps. Our
balancing act is just as hard, and his overhead (pun intended) is a lot
less. Even if he does have to deal with a lot of monkeys.
And, speaking of monkeys, tomorrow, a few words about a little guy named George and where a bit of curiosity can get you.
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