Resume Entry #3 - Joe - 10/2003

Application for Canadian Residency

Here’s the situation. My real resume isn't getting me very far these days. Two years ago I was pretty confidant that just a touch up on the most current work and getting it out there would get results. Well, I’ve revised that old resume more times than I care to count over the last 30+ months. There are several versions for employment I wouldn't have been considering in March of 2001. I have the old one with all the techie stuff, but now have several versions that wouldn’t imply I was over qualified for bagging groceries. I have one targeted toward being a dog walker, but I understand there is currently heavy competition for those jobs since many tech workers have moved to that sector. Indeed, we are moving toward a service economy.

On the plus side, I am learning that the simple life isn’t so bad and I really don’t need a lot of the stuff I thought I did. I’ve had plenty of time to think back on 12-hour days of getting the job out the door, being sure to get to power lunches, and calculating the future value of company stock options. It’s different now. I don’t waste time on glamour projects that are doomed from the start and office politics. Instead I spend time with friends who are actually friends and do more with my family than explain that I’ve got to get off to work. I planted a garden.

And I’ve had time to look at the “big picture.” According to Mother Jones, “- the level of inequality in America today is staggering: The top 1 percent now own 38 percent of the nation’s wealth, while the bottom 40 percent own 1 percent. In other words, the richest 3 million Americans put together are nearly 40 times richer than 113 million of the rest of us.” Good thing I’ve learned to appreciate the simple life.

What’s more, I’m wondering how the “big picture” translates across boundaries. Ah, incompatibilities and strife are everywhere it would seem. But I think there are a lot of similarities. A video showing the excesses of Saddam Hussein was released, I suppose to make an impression on the local population. In the US we have the tape of the Dennis Kozlowski (Tyco) party that was edited for the jury so it wouldn’t be too prejudicial. While the spin doctors are deciding what the impact of these tapes should be, on whom and where, I’m struck by the similarity in how big money such as in these examples are extracted behind corporate or political scenes, and the similarity in uses to which it is put.

What to do? While I’m enjoying the simple life, none of my resume versions are working to get me the security and peace of mind I had hoped for. Not here, anyway. So I’m thinking that 2 years of working on resumes is enough, and maybe I’ll work on an application to become a resident of Canada instead. I can see good things about such a move. There’s lots of open space (and maybe opportunity). The latest discussions say Canada is getting a real personality. With global warming, it may not be a move to the deep freeze. The government would allow me to purchase less expensive Canadian medications without a fight. Best of all, I’d be where they thought up the Red Green show. Red Green is the only person who would know what duct tape should really be used for.

Joe K., Massachusetts
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