April 10, 2023

  • Get A Job

    Jackson street

    I tried employment a handful of times in my life.

    Getting to work by 8am on time was such a struggle and I was often late. Especially before being diagnosed with sleep apnea.

    Then putting up with supervisors and coworkers. I found that every workplace had its politics and culture which you had to fit in or be treated with scorn by supervisors and coworkers. I guess I have that personality where people like to fk with you... I'm too easy going. Or people feeling threatened by my knowledge and skills. They want to put me in my place.

    There was the side of me that kept on taking on work besides holding a job which kept me up after putting in a 8-5 job. There was no relaxing after work. I was burning the candle at both ends and often got very little sleep. I often nodded off at work and the coworkers would snitch on me.

    After getting let go or resigning it felt so good to be back in the driver's seat and in command of my own ship. But of course business and income was never consistent.

    Now that I'm a senior citizen, retired, broke and only dependent on a measly monthly social security check, I look back on my life and thinking how I fkdup like this. Most of my friends have a pension check from putting in twenty five to thirty years into a job. On top of that they get a sizeable social security check because they paid into the system all those years while working. They are retired very comfortably. Me being mostly self employed there's no pension. I didn't pay into social security. I often wonder if I should have just gotten a job and forget trying to be self employed. Would it have worked? Would I be happy?

    I understand why people go postal at the workplace. Having bad coworkers and supervisors that mess with your mind can really give you a feeling of entrapment. Putting up with it everyday makes you want to lash out. Adding stress to your life and causing sleepless nights. The job is what sustains you. Paying rent, paying bills, paying mortgage, paying for food on the table, paying for family, kid's education, the commute, etc. It can drive one nuts. I remember this supervisor that had a way of reprimanding me in front of all the co-workers to make me feel like an idiot. It made the coworkers look at me like I was crazy and ignore me.

    Anyway the OL bugs the hell out of me to this day and in my age and condition about getting a job. How I never worked a day in my life. I am a lazy bastard. How I should have driven a bus....blah blah blah. It's no use talking about it. I can only regret the decisions I made in my life. I often find myself fantasizing about traveling back in time to correct some mistakes.


    GET A JOB by the Silhouettes 1958

    Yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip, bmm
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na

    Ahh, yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip
    Mum-mum-mum-mum-mum-mum, get a job
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na

    Well every morning about this time (Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na)
    She gets me out of bed, a-crying get a job (Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na)
    After breakfast everyday she throws the want ads right my way
    And never fails to say - get a job

    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na

    Ahh, yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip
    Mum-mum-mum-mum-mum-mum, get a job
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na

    Lord, and when I get the paper I read it through and through
    I, my girl never fail to see if there is any work for me...
    I got to go back to the house, hear that woman's mouth
    Preachin' and a cryin', tell me that I'm lyin' about a job
    That I never could find

    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na

    Ahh, yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip
    Mum-mum-mum-mum-mum-mum, get a job
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na

    Lord, and when I get the paper I read it through and throu-ough
    I, my girl never fail to see if there is any work for me...
    I better go back to the house, hear that woman's mouth
    Preachin' and a cryin', tell me that I'm lyin' about a job
    That I never could find

    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, ahh-do
    Sha-na-na-na...