Looking for work in the St. Louis market is discouraging to say the least. Then I read this on one of the blogs I’ve been reading,

“Capitalist society doesn't place its highest value in wordsmithery, and that's a bucket of ice water in the face of the arrogant intellectual as he must deal with the post-graduate world's shrug at his linguistic gymnastics. No one cares. He's smart, he can compete, sure, but not at the highest levels. Some see this, put away the Proust and go to law school, after which they often are able to grab that brass ring, but others just spend the rest of their days moaning for Marx.”

Mooooooooooooaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnn. Totally disheartening, but there is truth in that none of the open job descriptions that I am reading fit me. Today I briefly considered working as a courier, but my van has over 200,000 miles on it already and … it’s a van. Gas mileage is not so good. Brad took me lunch at a Chinese buffet place and they were actually hiring. I worked at a Chinese Buffet place for two years so I am certainly qualified. That would net me a few dollars an hour plus tips, and at buffet places people figure that you didn’t really wait on them, so that’s a buck a person in tips if you’re lucky… I am going to end up having to take a shit job like that. This particular restaurant is far enough away that I would spend whatever I made working there on transportation getting there. Shitty.

I may have to face facts here and admit that I am not going to find the job I am looking for in St. Louis. We have one of the worst labor markets in the country. The convention center is empty, the airport has 50% of the traffic it did before TWA died and what flights are still there are completely unaffordable. It is literally cheaper for me to drive to either Kansas City or Milwaukee, pay the gas and to store my car and fly out of those cities than it is to fly out of St. Louis. Of course the only reason I would be flying would be a job interview to leave the city so I suppose the point is moot. Don’t think I am down on St. Louis. I’ve always loved living here and you can’t beat the level of public art and music. I am just having a bit of a rant to vent unemployment frustration. I’m about out of coast and will soon be living in the turn of the century cistern in my parent’s Wisconsin farmhouse.