Thank God for those dollar menus...

I thought I would this start this off with something personal, just not sure which category it applies too.

Just got back from getting dinner again. Thank God for those dollar menus. I’m sure there are many people that can relate to my situation and I cannot help but wonder if they also have gained a new respect for the local McDonald’s and Burger Kings dollar menus as I have.

I have been without work since February of this year. Having been in the trucking business for many years, operating my own company and making a decent living, it was hard to adjust. The company I had contracted too for the last five years was unable to keep me busy any longer, partly due to them signing up another company who was taking a lot of my work from me.

So now I keep myself busy looking for a job. I have sent out so many resumes and filled out so many applications it is almost ridiculous. I didn’t qualify for unemployment so all I had to survive on was a little bit of savings, and since my actual work didn’t stop all at once, just slowed down over time, my savings didn’t amount to a whole lot.

I guess the realization of how tight the job market has gotten didn’t really hit me till just a few weeks ago. After many months and many applications I thought I had found what would be a good “local” job driving for Scholastic, the schoolbook people. I wrote an excellent resume describing my work experience over the last twenty-five years and filled out their online application.

I am a drug-free man with a perfect driving record, owning and driving tractor-trailers for over twenty-five years. I have been driving under my own authority with my own company for the last five years. I exceeded all of Scholastics requirements, current class A license, doubles and triples, tanker and hazmat endorsements, no accidents or moving violations, etc., so I thought I would be a great applicant and would soon be hearing from them.

After waiting a over a week for a response I impatiently dug up their phone number, which was quite a chore to locate, and gave them a call. I asked the lady that answered the phone to direct me too their human resources department. She asked that I hang on, that the lines were busy. Within a few minutes another woman picked up the phone and asked if she could help me.

I told her I was inquiring about the truck driving position that I had applied for and was wondering if she could tell me the status of my application. She explained to me that they were swamped. It turns out the local truck driving job that I had applied for had received quite a response. What she said next is what made me realize my situation.

I was informed that Scholastic had received over eleven hundred applications for the one “local” job opening they had posted. In stunned disbelief, and without questioning her further, I thanked her and somehow managed to hang up the phone without dropping it. How am I going to get a job when there are that many other qualified truck drivers in my area responding to the same jobs I am applying for?

Not one who gives up without a fight, I have continued monitoring local and online ads for any driver job openings I can find. I am still sending out applications to any new ones that appear, but they are few and far between. I recently applied to the US Army as a Mobil Equipment Operator and I am patiently and hopefully waiting for a response.

Needless to say, I have certainly gained a different perspective regarding my fellow “dollar-menu” restaurant patrons. How many of them are also out of work and trying to get by on a couple-of-dollars a day? As I am finishing my Whopper Jr. w/cheese, no onions or pickles for one dollar and twenty-eight cents, I cannot help but wonder how many other over-qualified, out-of-work US citizens are also waiting to hear from the US Army.

Will keep you posted…

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