Rant #1,835: My Prerogative

I made two decisions recently--very recently in fact--that will certainly impact my personal standing and what I write about here on this blog.

The first thing that I decided is that I am not going to write very much anymore about politics.

I am sick and tired and bored to death about the constant prattle about who our president is, how he got in there, how good or bad he is, what his policies are, etc.

People have drawn their own lines in the sand on this. Either you like Donald Trump or you don't. There appears to be no middle ground.

And I am sick to death about hearing about this nonsense, where you are right and everybody else is wrong.

People have forgotten how to have a discussion, how to have a useful discourse about their views, and listen to the views of others.

Things have simply gotten as nasty as can be.

So I have simply decided to stay out of the fray.

I have my opinions, and I have vented them here. I voted for Donald Trump, think he will be a good president, and I support him and his views.

I don't love the guy, I don't like a lot of things he does and says, but I respect him and his office, which is a lot more than many other people do.

So since I have stated my viewpoint many times, there is no reason to state it again and again and again.

Some people still haven't gotten over Trump's win, and just go on and on and on and on some more about it.

They are completely delusional, but it is their right to vent their feelings too, even if at this point, if they don't accept him as our president, I do believe they need some psychiatric help.

But that being as it is, I am going to lay low about politics now, because as I said, I have stated my views and there is nothing else to say.

I do reserve the right to return to the fray if I want to--and I will defend certain themes and ideas with the passion of my heart--but I am going to lay low on politics for now.

The other thing I have decided to do is kind of temper down my pursuit of another job.

I still want another job, still need another job, but I have found, over the past three months or so, that although I dearly need a job, the jobs don't need me.

Yes, my company is still failing; yes, morale is at an all time low; yes, I am still getting abused at my place of work--after nearly a month, they still have not answered my vacation request, I still don't know what is happening with my 401K and profit sharing money, and am I still on their insurance or not?--but unfortunately, I have found out the hard way that there is no market for a 60-year-old associate editor, with more than 30 years of experience, more than 20 at this job alone.

This is a world for young people, and although it is against the law to discriminate due to age, you know that companies do it regularly in the hiring process.

You don't have to include your age on your resume; it doesn't take a college education to figure out approximately how old one is by the experience included in your resume.

And all the rejections have piled up for me, and after more than three months and at least 100 or more resumes sent out, I haven't had one single legitimate bite.

Look, I know I am in a dead field, and yes, I have ventured out of that field on occasion while applying for jobs.

The problem is that not only am I too old for most employers, but my background is so heavily steeped in editorial things that I am stuck in a web and can't get out of it. A potential employer sees my background, and sees how it is heavily in this field, and they simply won't let me escape.

Look, as they say, it is easier to look for a job when you have one than when you don't, so I will just plug on, only apply for jobs that I really, really want, and probably end up going down with the ship with this job, just as I have done in the past with other positions I have had.

I went down with the ship with at least two other positions I had during my so-called career, and it isn't easy to reinvent yourself, but I did several times, and I will do it again if necessary.

But right now, I guess although I see the iceberg, in spite of trying hard, I simply can't avoid it.

So I will continue to look, but without the gusto that I have had during this job search.

It has hurt my psyche, my ego, and my very being, so why punish myself anymore?

I know what I can do; those that don't see it are truly missing out on someone who could help their company.

A company that signs "giants" becomes a giant of a company--that is not an original from me, someone else said it, but I don't remember who--and as I have said many times, it is their loss if they don't give me a shot.

But I am not going to shoot myself in the heart to find a job.

Maybe I am too old for this, but I am the same guy who, when I was fresh out of college, snuck into the Sports Illustrated offices in Manhattan and tried to give them my resume, only to be literally thrown out on my tuckus for trying to do so.

I am the same guy that during my 18-month unemployment episode, went on both TV and radio looking for work to no avail.

And I am the same guy who also during that span, went to our local Long Island Railroad station and handed out my resume to "Dashing Dans" hoping to pique the interest of someone, and when I found most of my resumes in the trash can, took them out of the garbage and gave them out again, all to no avail.

Yes, I am the same guy, but I don't think I can do it anymore.

It is not giving up, which I will never do; but it is the simple realization that I have to stop beating my head against the wall over something I have absolutely no control over.

Heck, I have my family, I have my health, what else do I really need?

So you have a good weekend. I work for the weekend, so I know that I will.

Speak to you again on Monday.