The Employment Diaries

A Different Ballgame 07.03.10

Happy Oscar-Sunday readers!

The day when most people, even employed ones, get to feel bad about themselves. The closest most of us will come to holding a gold statue and having Versace design our dress/tuxedo is through photoshop.

One perk of being unemployed is you can make up what you do with your time. For example, I could be working on a script, writing a book, or doing lots of auditions rather than just not having a job (see previous blog post about how it’s not lying if it makes you look better). In that sense, all of us unemployees could be working our way towards an Oscar, for all you know. So maybe, Oscar-Sunday is the least depressing for those without jobs because we can pretend we’re just holding out for Hollywood.

Speaking of awards, I just received an e-mail from a journal called Creative Nonfiction where I entered something for a best narrative blog post contest they were holding back in August. I never heard back, and since at the time I was on a beach in Italy, wasn’t too stressed about it. I just found out that though my entry, called Larry’s Nap, didn’t win, I made the top 15 posts out of 800. I’m like Precious, nominated, but ultimately losing to Streep or Bullock. I’ll take it.

Because tonight is all about the stars, I’ve decided to blog about the little guy. The everyday man/woman (Take that O Canada!) working hard for

Dan the shoe man

those toons and loons.

Earlier this week I was reading an article in Canadian Business titled “A new career in a year” which listed nine professions that require under 12 months of training. Number eight is a cobbler because shoe repair shops are busy and after some training you could be making over $30,000.

This made me think of a smiley Vietnamese man who runs a shoe repair shop in my neighborhood. He always looks up from his machine to wave when I pass by the long window of his store, his head like a buoy amongst a sea of footwear.  Plus, he did a really great job on a pair of boots I brought in a couple years ago. I decided to stop in and as how fruitful he finds his work.

Here’s what he had to say:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Dan repaired these fabulous pups. The boots, asshole.

Also, I found this blog by a former Seattle Times reporter dedicated to narratives about the plight of the little guy. Ch-h-h-heck it.