I started working at a bakery in a supermarket in 1993, a few months after I turned 18. I was a senior in high school. I had worked for my dad's company previous to that. But that was just some temp work that my dad gave me so that I could put down some work experience on a job application. I had also gotten paid for coaching gymnastics but, again, temp work that ended when the insurance company decided that it was too risky to have 16-year-olds responsible for moves that could result in broken necks.
At least, that was the story my boss told me when me and all the other 16-year-olds who made $5/hour got terminated.
So I began working in a bakery a few months after my 18th birthday. I worked as many hours as they would give me.
I had a sales job but I earned $5/hour rather than commissions. My job was to move product and I moved it. Then I found a job taking down a Bizmart (for you young uns, that's like a Staples) that had recently gone out of business.
That was temporary work which ended a few months later. But I learned a lot of new colorful words in Spanish. And I got 40-hours per week which my previous employer couldn't give me.
Then I served a mission in Brazil. Learned Portuguese. Lived on $100/month. Yadda yadda.
Then I came back to California and started parking cars for a living. Got married. Was lucky enough to be hired as a police officer thanks to Bill Clinton's urban revitalization efforts and the fact that I had not had any serious run-ins with the law or medical problems.
I eventually decided to get my college degree and go to law school. I figured that a law degree would give me something to fall back on if I ever decided to leave the force. I earned my j.d. and quit my job as a cop so that I could move on to the bigger and better things that I hoped were waiting for my on the other side of the bar.
This was 2006 now. It took me awhile to land that first attorney job. When I did, it was just temp work (see the pattern?). But I did the best I could.
I eventually got a job in Iraq training the police over there. Dangerous work. But it paid well. I survived that for a year then decided to come back to the U.S. and try to find work as an attorney. Found some work at a few law firms that were small and did sloppy work. My dream was to work for a firm that had 4 to 10 lawyers and that specialized in one or two specific areas of law. The trouble is, many of these firms want to hire lawyers that come from top tier law schools. Because I was working full-time, had a wife and kids, etc., I wasn't able to go to a top tier law school.
Until Obama got elected, I have always been able to find work. Since Obama's inauguration in 2009, I have had to endure something that I never thought that I would endure: unemployment. This has created a tremendous impact on my family. We don't always know how we're going to pay our bills. Obama's stimulus plans have done nothing for me or my family. His health care initiative has done nothing for me or my family.
Although I had hoped that Obama would have the ability to reach across the aisle and get something done as president, I now see that he does not have the ability to do anything to help me. I have sent out hundreds of resumes and job applications. I have applied for city, county, state, and federal jobs. I have looked for jobs in Iraq, Africa, Haiti, and Afghanistan. Nothing.
I hope that everyone who voted for Obama is pleased with themselves. This guy has literally torn down what was left of the economy after the rich Wall Street bankers raided the federal reserves in 2008. We have all been taken for a ride.
I want off now.
Check please. (Nevermind. I'm broke anyway.)