Posts Tagged: charity

Filed in: text | Tags: ,
— No Comments
12
Jan 10

Art of Unemployment

I am using my writing to deal with the struggle involved with being unemployed. Writing is not the only coping mechanism one can use, however. There is Art!

Check out the Jacob Heftmann Archive blog. Designer Jacob Heftmann has been making some very interesting graphics about his experiences as he tries to find employment. He is calling it “The Job Application Process”. One image shows how many applications he has sent out, compared to how many responses he has gotten, in the form of a bar graph. Simple images that speak volumes!

I hope this talented designer finds a great job, really soon.

There has been a small change to the Between Gigs blog. As of last night, there is now a “Tip Jar” attached. If you like what you read, and want to show your appreciation in a financial way, you can click on the link that says “Pages”, and follow it to the Tip Jar page. Send your small change to an unemployed blogger! (There is also a link there to my Amazon Wish List, if you happen to want to take a look at that.) I do not intend to mention the Tip Jar every post, or anything like that, but, I thought it was a good idea to announce it’s existence.

Filed in: text | Tags:
— No Comments
18
Oct 09

I Just Wanted Groceries

Despite being unemployed, I do still need to shop sometimes. Today, I just wanted to go buy groceries.

Shawn and I went to Trader Joe’s first. When we came back out of the store, there was a man sitting by a table full of buttons and possibly stickers. He wanted us to purchase these buttons (or whatever they were), to show our support for the movement out here in California that wants to legalize marijuana. I signed the petition weeks ago, and the petition itself is gone. Yet, this man is still here, looking for a financial donation to his cause.

We went to the Vons next. When we got to the cash wrap, we were asked if we wanted to round our total up to the next dollar, and donate those leftover cents to Breast Cancer Research. We did.

Before we left, we realized that we forgot to get one item. So, we found it, and I went back to the cash wrap to purchase it. This new cashier asked me, once again, if I wanted to donate money to Breast Cancer Research. I declined, because I already donated money, not fifteen minutes ago. The machine I had to run my card through asked me, one more time, if I wanted to donate some money to Breast Cancer Research. I declined, for the second time.

Shawn took the groceries to the car while I was making that last purchase. He got asked by two Boy Scouts if he wanted to donate some money to help out Special Olympics. When I left the store, the same two Boy Scouts were on either side of the door, and they asked me if I wanted to donate money to help out Special Olympics. We, of course, could not, because we already spent all our available money on groceries, and donated to the Breast Cancer Research. Oh, and did I mention, I’m unemployed right now?

All of these causes are good causes. It’s just completely overwhelming to be bombarded with requests for money when I don’t have a job, and don’t know when I will get one.

I just wanted groceries.