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Unemployment through the eyes of the unemployed
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Hi! My name is Ester and I'll be your Unemployment Examiner for this recession. What, you may ask, qualifies me for this task?
Four and a half years ago, I was unleashed on the mean streets of New York City with big eyes and big dreams, working at Very Important Talent Agency about which I knew criminally little. Entertainment as a field seemed so exciting! And VITA was a reknowned company with name recognition that went back a hundred years.
This then was Job #1:
- First, I was hired as a Floater, a sort of in-house temp
- Then I was promoted to Booth Director, where I got to coach celebrities through voice over auditions. I got to meet network and cable TV stars as well as character actors. A leader of the Bluth family kissed my hand; a glamorous weed-dealing suburban mom mooned me. Life was good.
- I was then promoted to the position of Assistant in the Commercials department, where I learned that liberal arts college actually doesn't prepare you in any way to be a secretary. Assistants are glorified secretaries; they are also very much like wives from arranged marriages. Still, I was determined to make good.
One day, I had to be taken to the emergency room from the office, and this resulted in my having to leave Job #1. Strange? Yes, I thought so too. My boss, feeling rather bad at how things had turned out, helped my secure Job #2 as a receptionist in a casting agency.
Job #2 consisted of:
- cleaning up after actors' children and dogs
- taking out everyone's trash
- changing lightbulbs and the water
- arriving first and leaving last
- becoming the de facto office manager after the proper Office Manager quit
- working ten hour days for no overtime pay
- eating lunch at my desk in front of rows of hollow-eyed models
- appearing cheerful about it all
Right before Christmas, during the NYC Transit Strike, I was told that though I was smart and resourceful, this simply wasn't a good fit. I walked an hour and a half home to Brooklyn, almost too stunned to feel the 25-degree weather.
Then I realized I qualified for unemployment.
Stint of Unemployment #1:
- I worked on the novel I had begun after leaving Job #1
- I got an internship reading scripts for a small independent film production company
- I walked a lot
- I watched Starting Over as often as possible to remind myself how things could be worse.
Stay tuned for the next installment because, oh yes, my story gets better.
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