Thursday, April 13, 2006

The Real Life Dante Hicks and Other Random Musings

When the baby comes, I will have more to write. The last few days have been rather uneventful. I have been sending out resumes and applying for jobs almost nonstop since last Friday. So far, I have only heard back from one place. Shaman Drum in Ann Arbor had an opening so I applied. They e-mailed me that day to inform me that there were not any positions "available" to me. During the last go around of job applications (before the ill-fated Aflac experience) every place told me that I was either not qualified enough or that my experience did not fit the position. The places that said the latter were all retail jobs like Circuit City, etc. Does that mean that I am overqualified? Or do you really need a PhD to run a cash register at Home Depot or CVS? So it may come down to applying at a fast food restaurant or maybe a convenience store. Surely one needs only a Masters to work at one of these establishments?

The scary moment this week was when I came to the conclusion that I may be on my way to becoming the real life Dante Hicks. For you uninformed, Dante Hicks is the hero of Kevin Smith's movie Clerks. He is a fairly intelligent and responsible guy in his early twenties that is wasting his days as the Clerk at a convenience store. "But wait," you say, "you're almost thirty and live near Detroit, not Jersey!" First, I would venture a guess that Detroit is just about as bad as Jersey. Second, check out the trailer for the upcoming sequel to Clerks, Clerks II: The Passion of the Clerks. This time around, Dante is in his early thirties and working at Mooby's, a McDonaldesque hamburger joint. The reason this trailer really struck me was that I watched it not ten minutes after I had the epiphany that I may have to apply at McDonald's. As Jason Lee's character says to Dante in the trailer, "You're 32 and flipping burgers. Jesus, anybody else from our graduating class back there?"
**Disclaimer**This is meant to be humorous. I am not really feeling that sorry for myself. Okay, maybe a little but I promise I'm not really that pathetic. Also, if you are an employee of a fine fast food establishment or convenience store, I am not implying that I am better than you...just more educated.

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Yes, I have sold out. I installed AdSense on my blog. It is located at the top of the page. If you click on it, I get a little money. Think of it this way--by clicking on the ads you help buy Jack's diapers and help support my CD addiction. Please let me know if an offensive ad--like Wal-Mart, Dominos Pizza, Porn, or any other right-wing organization--is shown so that I can have it removed.
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Eventually I will have more links over on the side. But for now make sure and check out the other blogs that I have links to on the side. All three are entertaining and very intelligently written. Amy's and Jesse's give a nice perspective on what it is like to be an American living abroad. Brian's gives a nice perspective on what it is like to be one of the best classical saxophone players in the country.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey Joe,

Thanks for the kind words! Here are a few tips for landing that job at the Shaman Drum: 1) Go to this site, 2) Lose those small wiry spectacles and go for something more ironic, like really thick Elvis Costello-style horn-rimmed glasses. Yeah, that would be deck. 3) Stop reading magazines and start reading 'zines, 4) Read A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius so you can say that Dave Eggers is pretentious.