Someone went to a "Job Fair"

Job Fair.

That was the title of the gathering at the local Worksource... Worksource is a combination internet cafe, EBT Card dispenser and place to house gubmint employees who are unemployable at any other real place of work.

I can assure you that Worksource is a place of misery. I have tried to use the services provided on three occasions in the past ten years; Once when I was working for a Defense Contractor, looking for new employees; Another time when I was needing work and finally when I was trying to learn how to get a job at the Post Office.

I NEVER GOT ANYTHING OUT OF THIS WORKSOURCE!!! We couldn't hire any of the applicants they provided, mostly because the potential workers never got back to us! I never heard back from any of the employers when I sent my Worksource Resume's and finally, Worksource had no idea on how to apply for Postal Work. Srsly! This is possibly because Worksource is a Jobs Program of itself, intended to give good jobs to those nice graduates with Social Work Degrees from smaller schools of advanced learning.

Note: It is not my intent to be bad mouthing any Colleges. I would enroll myself into Edward Waters College today,  just to enjoy being a minority student who might really do well with the education they offer. Imagine yourself being really noticeable and with most people trying to be nice to you because you are different! I bet it would be a good time going to that college as a 20ish kind of student. Plus, EWC actually has a really cool history.

Please to return to my endurance session at the Worksource.

In review, I should have known that I would be completely wasting an afternoon at the inner city unemployment office. But I had to give it a try, in case I was missing something valuable.


To be fair, I think the Worksource is a great place for some people to learn to use a computer in the hunt for a decent job. And that is really ok with me, since my taxes seem to be wasted everywhere else.

Anyway, rant off.

Soooo, I show up to the Military Sealift Command's Job Fair at the Norwood Worksource office. When I walk in to the office, I was directed to the left and told,

"fillouttheformwithyournameandsocialandhaveaseat." In one breath.

After a pleasant hour's wait (In which I was listening to the current presentation given just behind the wall) along with 25 other interested parties, we soon directed by a nice lady to turn in a form and file into a class room. This is when I notice the additional forms and writing utensils on the open desks. Looking around the classroom at my peers, I noticed that I was relatively well dressed and probably looking a bit over qualified for the Ordinary Seaman billets that the recruiter had gone on-and-on about during the previous session. I tried sitting on the outskirts of the crowd for the go-ahead-quick-getaway spot.

Enter the Matronly Woman of Authority; "Sir, please take that seat over by the wall..." Wedged inside of a few linebackers was a tiny, grade school sized tuffet for which I could rest my larger der·ri·ère.

This is when I departed quickly and quietly. This was about all the patience that was going to be expended and I was not going to wait any longer just to re-listen to the canned speech and the exhortations of (A very unskilled Recruiter) ..."You need to have a Passport/Transportation Card before applying to any of our Civilian Mariner jobs..."

Ok, I get it. All I hoped for was a moment to ask some questions about job availability and if it was even worth my time to ask. The Dude (Recruiter) was outside having a smoke break while all 25 of us had been waiting for over an hour. Fine with me, pal. I wondered if his alma mater was from a small college, too. Seems like a pretty crappy job to be cruising the inner city unemployment offices pitching good jobs with tough hiring requirements to needy people who may have less than perfect credit histories. (And debt is a hiring disqualifier with the Military Sealift Command!)

Ho-hum.

After getting back to the cat dwelling,  there happened to be an email which was just received from the Military Sealift Command!  This message tells me pretty much what I wanted to know from my visit, anyway. And so it goes, it seems that I am qualified for something and an application for a number of positions will be sent to me in the next month, or so.

Ok!

I want to be clear about this business, there is no real need for me to get back to work other than me wanting to see if there is an interesting opportunity out there. Running away to sea sounds like such fun, right? Especially when the pay might be worth while, too.  Prolly help the ol' ego if they offer something and I turn it down. Or not. We'll have to see how it all comes together.

Going back to sea kinda sounds like fun but really, I might suddenly remember how I hated being away from home and putting up with crazy shipboard routines. Perhaps this lesson is the whole point of me going over to Worksource and being annoyed today.

I'm happy. Hope you are, too. Have a nice Wednesday!