Not working

I didn't get that public relations job I wrote about earlier.

The job description was going to all the summer festivals I could find, while trying to raise the network's profile and giving live interviews about what's going at this concert or at that face-painting booth.

I would have had to move across the province for the job and was the only out-of-city applicant. The woman doing the hiring said she didn't pick me because: "We decided to go with a candidate that has a better knowledge of the city."

That's the kind of letdown you can expect from the P.R. professionals. Not "you gave a terrible interview" and not "your hands were freakishly sweaty, so I decided from the initial handshake that there was no way I would hire you."

On that note, I thought I'd share a few of my corporate (un)success stories. I have been fired* from the following:

- a farm insurance office where I did filing, mail sorting and answered phones (Incidentally, this was my first real job.)

-Tim Hortons (my second job)

-a local candy and nut packing company (my fourth job)

-a hotel where I did three 'ousekeeping shifts

-an upscale restraurant where I washed dishes a few times

I maintain that for the most part these firings weren't my fault.

For example, I was fired from my dishwashing job because of a misunderstanding. A few days before having out-of-town visitors, I asked if I could leave early one night to spend time with them. My boss agreed and said I could leave "at 9 pm when the rush is over."

Does that not mean that the rush ends by 9, so I had his permission to leave then?

Or does it really mean that the rush could end any time between 9 pm and 2 am and I would have to stay until the last of the crumbs were wiped up, while my guests waited in the parking lot from 9 on?

I left at 9 and found myself out of a job.

So even though I didn't get hired for this new job, at least that means I can't get fired from it.

*By "fired" I mean told I wasn't welcome to continue working. I believe all my former employers used terms like: " we regret that your services are no longer required" and "circumstances dictate that we have to let you go."