Nah, not really.
It was a temporary job after all…and to tell you the truth, when they told me I was being laid off…I surprised myself when I breathe a sigh of relief.
It’s not that I hated working in the mailroom.
It's just, I have another job at Harvard, and with the MFA I end up working 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 - 7 days a week…that’s like, almost every single day!!!…. Wait a minute…. that IS every single day!!!!!
And four months of it is making me more depressed than I care to be.
When I started working the everyday shift, I remember watching Ron Howard’s “Cinderella Man” which was set during the Great Depression. The movie’s main character can’t even afford to buy milk let alone support his family. So he wakes up early everyday to go to the docks hoping to find work just for that day.
Ron Howard made me feel better about having to work two jobs.
Four Months later…
Socially shut in from the world and exhausted… I thought….
“Hmm… You know, Ron Howard has a habit of bending the truth to make for a better movie.”
And you know what? His movie does nothing to reflect my current situation.
Why? Well…
-It’s not the Great Depression
-I don’t have a family to support
-I freakin’ hate milk
Ok, sure... I'm grateful I'm not experiencing those things...but it doesn't mean my current situation doesn't suck at all...just not as bad as that guy. Anyways, getting laid off was a sign to look elsewhere.
And I’m glad I never had to write a two weeks’ notice
With the free time I’ve gotten, I've been able to:
-Watch late night TV.
-Stay up all night listening to the Beatles, Doobie Brothers, Beach Boys, Mammas and the Pappas and um...Lil’ Kim.
-Wake up at noon.
-Download that Pina Colada song.
-Relax. Enjoy. Stretch out a little.
I spent many late nights writing poems, thoughts, Art reviews, stories, and sketching sketching sketching.
Speaking of which, here are a few samples of those sketches.
I think I did those while listening to Lil' Kim...
What? Oh... wait there's more...
Fear of Drowning revisited
Oh... and some serious reflections... turned into a comic strip
First: Adventures of "Boy's Room Door Boy's Only Symbol"
Second: Love is...
Just a note on that last comic strip... I'm not at all close to being that muscular, I too like to bend the truth for a better story or in this case, physiques....BUT! The man with the beer gut and "A Lesbian Taught Me" shirt is based of a real douchebag I served gas to back when I worked at an Exxon down Rt. 72 in Manahawkin, New Jersey where people really need to be allowed to pump their own damn gas! Seriously people, all the other states require it!..(you didn't need to know or hear all that.)
Yup…Getting laid off isn’t half bad.
Ok….
Now let’s talk about what isn’t half good.
Bills. The end.
