Outside the Box

Today was a bit like Halloween. I played dress-up, and tried to be a normal person.

She showed me a slide with a bunch of boxes in it. Each box represents a different department. This box, she said, it should really be red, not white, because of X,Y,Z.

Oh, totally, yeah, red for sure.

And that box, the sales team, that's the box I'd be in.

And, what have I been doing with myself since I lost my job?

And, where do I see my career going?

And, am I familiar with CRM?

Hmmmm.... a neighborhood newsletter?

But no, it's something I can do outside of work. Yeah. I, uh, wrote the text for a photography book while working at a sales job, and planning a wedding, so I still plan on doing the newsletter if I got this amazing position that would require me to sell something for 40-plus hours each week that nobody is buying without a good degree of coaxing right now, in an industry that is suffering even more than other industries. I can do it.

No, no, no, I can't. That's what I thought later on after coming home. It's supposed to be my "unplugged day," but I logged in anyway, and there were at least 10 emails from readers of the newsletter in my inbox: corrections, stuff to mention for next week, three people that want to be subscribers, and other feedback that feels real to me.

The sterile interview room, the organizational departmental boxes, the bright elevator, the key cards hanging from pockets, the little bottled waters, the dry air... Though I've been there before, and that kind of world helped me save money, for which I'm grateful, this time around it wasn't real enough to make me want it bad enough.

Here's a few images from today. S. was parked on North Avenue, and stretching his muscles against the side of his cab when I walked up to him and asked if he was free. As I'd been running late I wasn't sure if I'd make it to the train in time, and figured better to cab it than to be late. It turns out S. has lower back problems, and just started driving a cab six weeks ago because the restaurant he'd been working at for many years abruptly closed. He has five children, wakes up at 3 a.m. to do yoga, and then goes to his cab.