Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Best Dad Evar on Career

We catch up with our hero on a break from his job. He stands outside the door of a quiet warehouse, a corrugated metal structure with only the smallest of windows and the occasional door in a two story high building that is a bland tan color. The parking lot Best Dad Evar stands in is similarly quiet with only a few cars and delivery trucks to suggest how many people work inside. He's enjoying a bit of fresh air and natural light, though he's a bit annoyed because a truck (no doubt filled with pallets of "product") has just passed in front of him, spewing filthy smelling black smoke from its exhaust pipes into his general aura.

Best Dad hears a voice, with which he's now familiar, "Best Dad Evar, what are your thoughts on the word 'career'?" the narrator asks, taking our hero's mind away from the stink.
Best Dad Evar snorts with disgust. "Career, what career? I drive a forklift. I work in a warehouse."
"But Best Dad Evar, you have a degree in Economics, what happened?"
"Well, a degree in Economics doesn't pay the bills. It doesn't buy diapers. It doesn't make your car payment or pay for groceries. It certainly doesn't pay medical insurance premiums. As it turns out, driving a forklift and moving boxes around in a warehouse does." He smirks.
"Still, shouldn't you be able to find something that pays the bills that uses your degree or your previous job skills more?"
"You mean, like my last job as a loan officer for a mortgage company?"
"Oh..."
"Yeah, oh. Not too many good jobs for us, are there?"
"No, apparently not."
"But an old boss got me this job here after the shit hit the fan in the mortgage biz, so here I am."
"Not exactly what you had planned."
"No, not at all. Maybe some day I'll be able to find a job where I can use those skills again. But for now we're surviving, and that's got to be enough."

"Weren't you expecting to 'make a difference in the world' when you got your degree Best Dad?"
"Yeah, but that was a long time ago when I was young and idealistic."
"You don't fool me, Best Dad Evar, I know you still think you could 'change the world'."
"Yeah, I guess," he says, his head hanging in shame. "It's just that I'm so tired and I don't feel like I have time to *do* anything. Once I get home from my job I have a few hours to be with my kids each night. Those hours are often jam-packed and stressful so afterwards I'm completely worn out. Weekends are typically filled with chores and maybe a few hours of relaxation. When am I going to do something so big it will 'change the world'?"
"But Best Dad, I hear about parents who are changing the world every day, despite their busy schedules, why can't you do what they're doing?"
"I guess I'm just not as good a person as those folks." Best Dad Evar says with a fiery look in his eyes. Is this anger directed at our narrator or himself? One can only guess.

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