The Macrame Job

It was a grim morning, the kind of day where the streets swirl with restless garbage and the city smells like malt liquor and Newport Lights. I was at home in the office, my face dimly lit by the computer's glow. It was another day on the job hunt, and while Hilly was away at law school, I was spending some quality time with my other partner--CareerBuilder.com. I wondered what she had in store for me today.

The site had what looked like a gem. A local publishing company was looking for an associate editor for a line of craft books. I couldn't hope for better work than with a publisher, and crafts? Hell, the learning curve couldn't be steeper than for my female condom story. I hastily assembled an e-mail with my resume and a cover letter. The letter, for purposes of credibility, included the following sentences:

I was raised in a crafts-oriented family. When I was young, my parents made candles and rope baskets, and also knitted and crocheted clothes. We were a frugal family, which encouraged us to be innovative. My sister and I helped our parents with their crafts, which they sold at regional fairs. Soon enough I was dabbling in craft interests of my own--first friendship bracelets, then macrame, and eventually tying flies with which I pursued my love of fly fishing.

Weeks later, I haven't heard from the crafts book people. Maybe they didn't buy my personal craft progression. That's just how it went, though, no joke. In any case, I kept fishing--plenty of other fish in the sea.

I find a certain thrill in searching job sites. Every time I click SEARCH, it feels like I'm sending a sonar ping out to the world, a fiber optic synapse through all the towers of the skyline and all the nameless businesses and organizations pushing paper within them. Sometimes the city answers back in shouts, and I spend hours filtering the possibilities and drafting cover letters, wondering what new career I could embark upon, what new life I might adopt. Other times the city is silent and seems drained of prospects. I guess it just depends on the day.