It's been a while

It's been a while since I've blogged.

I forget who is even following this blog?

Anyhow, is it just me or is the economy still getting worse?

Anyhow, life in LA continues to be rather bi-polar, like my ex boyfriend.

One day it's all nice and rosy.

The next day it feels like solitary confinement.

People here really are completely selfish and self-absorbed.  I think that's the root of my unhappiness.  But tell me if these things would annoy you too?

I have a friend that hasn't worked in two and a half years.  And despite my trying to help them find a job, all they do is go to meetup groups.  They don't even spend their time being an awesome friend to me or doing volunteer work or anything.  I just don't get it.

True, the economy is bad and no one wants to work for minimum wage but this friend quit a job that was paying almost $20 an hour because it was "beneath" them.  And while I try to be supportive, having someone like that in my life just is infuriating.  They are also flakey and while well-meaning, it just amazes me.

If I didn't work for two years, I would get SOME job, any job, even if it meant working at the mall or retail for minimum wage because I'd be so BORED otherwise.

But people here are really weird and even if you go to school for 6 months, that's still 2 years of not bringing in one penny of income.  I can't imagine that!

***

When you're down, people here will try to "be a friend" by taking you out to a nice dinner or distracting you by, guess what, talking about themself.  Do they ever sit you down and have a REAL conversation?  Ask how you're doing and CARE about the answer?

No!

And I think that is really fucked up.

My friend said I should go see a therapist.

Wow, I should pay money for therapy because people in LA, including family, are shitty?

Maybe THEY should go to therapy and figure out why they can't have a real conversation or show up on time instead of 1.5 hours late, if at all, when we are supposed to get together.

Everyone here wants to legalize pot but if anything, we shouldn't because we have enough flakey potheads as it is and they certainly don't need encouragement.

People on the east coast may drink a lot and drinking and driving, of course, is no joke....but at least the alcoholics I know aren't totally flakes and have good jobs and their shit together.

***

People encourage me to move.

As if it's so easy to move in this recession.

It's not like they are handing out jobs left and right.

Moving isn't so hard.

But what people don't understand is that I've worked for almost 15 years to build up a name for myself in this crazy entertainment industry.

Giving that all up is not something you can or should take lightly.

***

I can't stand the weather on the east coast but I miss the normal people there.  The  New Yorkers with the harder than stone exterior shell who, once you crack it, become your best friends ever.

While there are a LOT of amazing people in Los Angeles, it's a really hard city to live in without any family to support you or friends that aren't selfish.

Oh well.

What does it say that when I really got so frustrated yesterday and wanted help, the two people I thought of first are in NY and FL?

And they wrote me back within SECONDS to lend a hand and say that if I wanted to move, they would help me out any way they could.

Sad that I didn't think of ONE person in LA to call who would do the same.

Kinda A Strange Thursday

I had kind of a strange day yesterday.

I was running errands and at the mall, as I walked to the stores after parking my car, I saw a guy walk by me with his friend behind him on a skateboard. Except, the guy on the skateboard was missing his entire lower body. No feet, no knees, no legs. Nada. He was just a torso and arms and head.

Then I drove to my next errand and passed a woman being walked with a seeing eye dog. My car approached her and a stop sign and the dog looked carefully at my car and I swear, right in my eyes to make sure I was stopping before he lead his owner across the street and to safety.

Then I went to my next errand and leaving it, saw a man in a wheelchair. But not just any wheelchair. The kind that you can only operate by using your mouth. Yes, he was paralyzed and that was the only way he could move around.

"God," I thought to myself. We all have our problems. I know I've complained my fair share. And I try to be thankful for what I have. But life has truly been difficult these past years. But nothing compared to these people.

One guy is missing half his body. One woman can't see. And the other man can't move anything.

I guess that's the universe's way of reminding me to count my blessings. Because things could be SO much worse.

Bless those poor souls who are going through life like that.

My heart goes out to them.

The "musical chairs" of the job market

Gosh, I haven't blogged here in a while.

Was busy suffering through the worst break-up and experience of my life (not even exaggerating, sadly) but anyhow, I have lots on my mind.

Namely, the economy and jobs.

I'm not sure why I'm so focused on people who don't have jobs.

Maybe it's because I worked for two companies in the 1990s, both Internet companies, that were bought and merged and in one way or another, ended in me losing my job. So, I have a special soft spot for anyone who gets laid off or is in the market for a job.

However, we're living in unusual times.

I was recently talking to a friend. He mentioned that his girlfriend would have no problem taking a retail job if she got laid off from her job (thankfully she's gainfully employed as a guidance counselor). My friend said he wouldn't do that. Well, not that he wouldn't do that but that he would be concerned about what people thought if he did that and that he wouldn't be so eager to go work at Ross. She commented that it might be fun and she might learn something.

"How refreshing," I thought to myself.

Because we live in that economy right now.

You're either a "have" or a "have not."

And we live in what I like to call the "music chairs" of the job market -- meaning, say there are 100 chairs representing 100 jobs in your company. Well, once the chair gets pulled out (i.e. you lose your job), that chair is gone. You can run around trying to get another chair but chances are, once you're out of a job, you're out of a job...and that job isn't coming back.

It's a great analogy the more I think about it because as companies grow their revenue, they are managing to do so with less people.

A friend of mine works at one of the biggest universities in California and said they have double the student body now compared to when he was in school (15+ years ago), yet they get by with LESS staff.

I'd say that's true of most companies today: their revenue is probably more, maybe double what it was before (maybe 5-10 times more, who knows) yet they have managed to drop all the "dead weight" i.e. fire or lay off any employees that aren't ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to their bottom line. So, give a few great workers a 5-10% raise, have them do the work of 2-4 people and voila, more corporate profits.

If you're one of those "lucky" a.k.a. "overworked" few, you may be doing well financially, but likely putting in insane hours and working from home and working weekends even for just a bit more pay.

But, what if you're one of the "not so lucky" ones?

Well, you're out of luck.

If your job is gone, through a layoff or being fired or your own voluntary decision to quit, it's likely not coming back anytime soon - if ever.

I wish I had a solution except to say, maybe you're gonna have to learn to love working retail.

What do you think?