Adventures in Unemployment (Part 2)

"It is a feeling of relief, almost of pleasure, at knowing yourself at last genuinely down and out. You have talked so often of going to the dogs--and well, here are the dogs, and you have reached them, and you can stand it. It takes off a lot of anxiety."

Okay, I definitely wasn't down and out in the sense Orwell means (picking cigarette butts of the street to scavenge the tobacco? I don't even smoke but- eww). But I sure can relate to the anxiety of hovering right above the precipice. Alright, I am being over dramatic, but after three weeks of unemployment, discouragement and anxiety were close friends of mine. There's only a certain amount of CV's a person can stand to send out with no feedback. The agencies were encouraging but hadn't produced much other then Coffee and America Haters LLC (they weren't the only ones to hold my nationality against me- I was turned down after one interview due to "cultural differences." You'd think I'd swaggered in there like George W. or something).

Finally though, as I was verging on week four of being a bum, success! One of my agencies finally came through in a big way and I have managed to actually land a job. A pretty sweet one too. Little auction house called Christie's, maybe you've heard of them?

I'm working at Christie's Fine Arts Security Systems, the branch of Christie's that deals with the storage and protection. I'm working in the control room, surrounded by keys and cctv

monitors. The position is part reception, part security- I pretty much completely control who goes in and out of the building, and what they can do while they are here. It's kind of exciting- just think of all the millions of pounds worth of treasures under my protection! Most of the art is locked up, but I've seen a couple of funky statues and the like, maybe if I'm lucky I'll get to go into the vault sometime. The people are very nice (although once again I am the youngest!) and I got to go to the holiday Christmas party last night- we went bowling- the most oddly pseudo-American experience I've ever had.

The best part of the job: free breakfast and lunch, and more tea then I could possibly ever drink. The worst part: the day starts at 8am, the office is about an hour commute from my house, meaning I'm up far before the sunrise every morning. Today it was so cold the cars were covered in frost and I actually wanted to die. But hey, employment is employment, and if it enables to keep living the London high life then I really can't complain!