On Monday I dropped by a small protest outside the Health Minister’s office. I’m no hero – she’s only a few doors away!
A couple of men with wordy signs and umbrellas covered in magic-marker rants were there to protest the pathetically low payments people are given under the WSIB. Both men were injured on the job and living in poverty. (I’ve looked into it – it’s pretty sad how easily people are denied their claims or then given next to nothing to live on.)
A third guy was filming the men as they explained their mission to get the Health Minister’s attention. I raised my iPhone to take a few photos of the scene and the young guy with the camera whipped around, pointed an accusing finger at my device and said, “THAT is the reason I can’t find a job!”
I said, “um, what now?”
He said that new technology that allows people to do work more quickly and multi-task is the reason why he, a broadcast journalism grad of 2006, can’t find a job. I told him I thought that was a pretty simplistic view of the marketplace, that there are new grads getting work but that the business has changed a lot and now there are fewer jobs. “But”, I said, “it seems to me that the colleges continue to churn out the same number of grads despite fewer opportunities.”
His eyes glazed over the second I began speaking. He was only interested in hearing his own voice. Fortunately for him, he was about to continue talking.
“Who’s going to pay for my move?” he asked. “I don’t follow”, I said, mostly because I didn’t follow. “All the jobs are up north, it’s 3 to 5-thousand bucks to move up there, so who’s going to pay for that? I don’t have that kind of money. Someone’s got to pay for it or I just stay here, doing nothing”.
Oh really? The city owes you a local job? And if there isn’t one that suits you, society owes you an all-expenses-paid move? At the risk of starting a sentence with, “Why, back in my day….” – for my first full-time job I packed up my few belongings and moved lock, stock and stereo to Red Deer, Alberta. And I was HAPPY to do it! What in the world could a guy his age possibly have that would cost 5-grand to move? And whatever happened to the 20-something guy so hungry for adventure that he would find a way to courier himself to where the work was?
This guy doesn’t have a job because he doesn’t want one. But there’s no sense in telling him that because he will never believe it. Unless a gig is served to him on a platter with a side of curly fries he’s not going to do what needs to be done to get one. As I walked away all I could think was, I get up at 3:30 am and pay my taxes to support his lazy ass. It made me ill.
Be careful of what you speak, sometimes there are circumstances beyond ones control which make a move as you suggest impractical or nearly impossible. The decade of which you remiss about has long since gone, never to return, for I was there, been there, seen it and lived it once upon a time.
While that may be true I’m quite confident that in this case it was simply a matter of not wanting to make the effort. I realize times have changed but work ethic need not.
BINGO! Just like our times were different than our parents, today’s students will also face new challenges. Sure, I didn’t have to walk 20 miles barefoot to get to my jobs, I was lucky enough to have the TTC. But I still worked 2 jobs to buy my own clothing & save up for my first car.
I loved picking up and moving every year… it was nice to get a fresh start and meet new people! I just don’t understand the extreme coddling of today’s youth…
I’ve got jeans older than that kid! What he doesn’t realize is that many a veteran broadcaster with over 20 years experience would love nothing better than to be able to hand over the coverage of yet another political protest to a new recruit.
The reality for all of us is that the jobs just don’t exist like they used to in “the old days”. The kid needs to learn that in ANY industry with a glut of graduates entering the workforce, it’s only the few who are truly outstanding that get their choice of jobs, followed closely by those who really, really want to work (and are willing to go to any lengths….)