I Gotta Ask - Why Did You Move to Reno?

Yes, those were the first words the job counselor at the Nevada State job center said to me this afternoon. That sure doesn't give me much confidence.

After waiting nearly three hours for my intake interview into the Nevada "system", I was immediately told how bad the employment outlook is here. The next thing the guy said to me was "You graduated Magna Cum Laude? There's not much we can do for you here." Just what I wanted to hear. After a few very constructive critiques about my resume, I found out that my job counselor is retiring in 3 weeks. I think he mentally left the job in April. Because then, he started talking....and talking....and talking some more. I found out that he had one of the original gas lamps from the dining car on The Oriental Express. He had ridden the train three or four times and he got it as a gift from a porter. He was born in Greece and has traveled all over the world. His sister actually owns a patent on a genetically modified species of crab that is resistant to toxins in the Chesapeake Bay. I learned that this man can repair watches and then he showed me a silver ring he crafted. When he was a teenager, he traveled aboard the "Haunted" Queen Mary cruise ship and when I asked him if it was, indeed, haunted he told me about hearing the cries of a little girl near the ship's empty swimming pool. A couple of hours later, I found out that he has college degrees in biology and geology and a master's degree in education. The guy passed on his philosophy of living for today instead of dreaming of retirement. He was not shy when he complained about elderly couples who save their whole lives to buy a fancy motor home and cruise the country once they have rid themselves of their careers.

Did he ask me about my last job? Did I get a chance to explain to him why I loved producing Coast so much? Did he even bother to ask me why I was fired from 2 jobs in 2 months? NO. He could not have cared less, it seemed. Yet, he LOVED talking to me. He said what a pleasure it was to have an intelligent person sit in the chair next to his desk. I found out that he is 67 years old, single and lives with a dog. He pulled out his new Droid telephone and showed me how to scan a bar code and do comparison shopping - yes, they have an "app" for that. He also taught me how to encrypt my voice on his phone so that the CIA can't listen in on my calls. I learned about his visit to a monastery in Greece where he once held a scroll from St. John the Baptist in his hands. He described his trips to catacombs and funerarys in Rome.

He did ask me how much I got paid on my last 3 jobs. And then, he told me to expect at least $5 less an hour, here. And, oh yes, I can expect to pay close to the same amount for rent as I did in Seattle.

After my nearly five-hour stay in that office, I was exhausted, hungry and thirsty, so I went downstairs to the grocery store to get some beans and rice for lunch. That's where I encountered the former accountant who is now a deli-clerk. I mentioned that I had been up at the job center. She shared (to the point of exhaustion) that she has been unable to find work in her field for several years. She detailed how she was downsized at her government-run dream job and asked to work only an 18-hour week. She finally found another job but was micromanaged to tears within 2 days and quit. And now, she has become a barista and cashier.

Everybody has a story and it seems everybody is dying to tell it to me. Maybe it is not just me. Maybe people are desperate for a sympathetic ear because times are so tough. I figure these folks have been put in my path for some reason. I'm just not sure what that reason is.