Unanswered Prayers
I?m not a spiritual guy. I gave that up a long time ago. Matter of fact, I?ve written about it quite a bit, and through those rants made some amazing contacts such as the great Brian Bailey. Such friendships are to be treasured.
But just like the corny Garth Brooks song, there is something about unanswered prayers. Never was this more apparent than this past weekend.
Did you know it was just over a year since I left ORNL? Let?s just say it was ?mutual? and that my hand was pushed. But that doesn?t stop the fact that I was suddenly without a job. After floundering for a day or so, my wonderful wife urged me to get into gear and polish the ole resume. My good bud Christian, hearing my plight, hooked me up with a guy at IPIX.
IPIX (brought to you in Extreme Capitalization), if you didn?t know, got its claim to fame through a 360 degree camera. I went on the interview, tried my best to give the right answers, and oohed and awed as much as possible when shown the camera could spin all the way around.
What? It was impressive. I promise. And they were going to give me employment. What can I say, it sounded cool. I was to design customer solutions, such as ?Joe Diamond Store Owner needs a Surveillance Solution. Design it.? They even had me write a mock-up proposal for the interview. What hardware would be needed, how long it would take, even down to the wiring necessary to make it work. I didn?t have a Powerpoint presentation, like some others I found out, but I had the most thorough Word doc they had seen. What can I say, I?m a practical guy.
When I finally got word that the job wasn?t mine, weeks after they filled it, I was already on to more promising pastures and all that. But still, the work there would?ve involved some customer interaction, creating ?solutions? (ie, a gameplan) and good pay. I was sad to have missed out on the opportunity.
But then I read this chilling story. 17 laid off in Oak Ridge alone. 27 total.
Guess who would?ve been included in that 17? If you don?t think it would?ve been me, then you have yet to grasp ?Today?s American Workforce.? Last I heard those jobs were shipped to China.
So had I not persevered for another few months and gotten the job I have today (which was originally offered to another individual and then myself), which is great and stable and full of nice peeps, I would be writing today about the struggles of a family and wondering where the next rent payment was coming from.
I can?t escape the hokey inclinations of this post, but I am very thankful that I didn?t get that ?spiffy? new job, regardless of how sexy it looked at the time. Those extra months were painful, but rewarding in all sorts of ?Life Lessons? ways.
And you know me and Life Lessons. I can?t shut up about them.
Thanks to those who left kind notes regarding my Army Saga finale. I really appreciate it. See ya tomorrow.
It?s just a God given gift that they instantly get
Just by looking into her eyes
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