Author's Note: It has been so long since I last posted that blogger has reinvented itself in a confusing new user interface. It is my hope that my first man-computer interaction with this new interface is successful and you are all able to joyfully read my latest musings.
As Abbey and I begin to once again box our belongings and
attempt to locate the most inexpensive mode of transportation for our ever
expanding trove of furniture and gnome-related knick-knacks I can’t help but
take a sarcasm-and-run-on-sentence-laden nostalgic look back at the past 12
months or so. Upon my attempted re-entry
to the Amurrican workforce I was faced with a familiar dilemma which my year in
France had afforded me the opportunity to somewhat forget about: to Church or
not to Church? I’m not talking the
“do-I-stop-hitting-snooze-and-get-my-ass-out-of-bed-on-Sunday-to-attend-a-worship-service-as-is-the-socio-religious-custom-of-many-whose-demographic-classifications-coincide-with-my-own”
type of Church dilemma, but rather the “do-I-devote-most-if-not-all-waking-hours-answering-a-call-I’m-not-sure-I-really-hear-in-order-to-help-provide-insight-to-the-spiritual-and-philosophical-quandaries-of-a-local-congregation-thereby-outwardly-affirming-god’s-call-to-and-claim-on-my-life”
type of Church dilemma. My decision was
somewhat made for me when I began to test the waters for full-time
churchwork-related interfaith positions and found less than a few, furthermore,
it seemed that the more “traditional” jobs for seminary-educated folks who
aren’t quite ordained as of yet (youth director) had been, at least in the
expansive metro-Atlanta PC(USA) universe, relegated to part-time status
(apparently god did not escape the recession unscathed). This would be ideal for one who was still in
school seeking to supplement their Federally subsidized temporary income;
however, for one who is seeking something to occupy his time for approximately
40 hours per week and provide a means to put food and beverage on the
proverbial table this arrangement was less-than-sterling. Additionally, having discussed “part-time”
churchwork with many who will remain nameless I came to realize that
“part-time” in this field tended to refer moreso to the monetary reimbursement
than to time one was committing. Further
complicating matters was the question as to whether I would give PhD
applications another go (I had another publication under my belt, had completed
masters numero dos, was much more directed in my scholarly interests, and would
now be able to personally visit the schools I would be applying to…leading me
to believe I could make myself a stronger candidate than I had been the
previous year). After discussing with
Abbey and coming to the conclusion that I would once again apply to PhD
programs, I knew I would need a job that would be flexible enough to allow time
off for campus visits, phone interviews, and would provide enough money each
week to pay some bills without requiring an amount of hours each week that
would hinder my ability to revise a writing sample, contact and meet with
recommendation writers, research programs and faculty, improve my resume by
gaining teaching experience/professional affiliations/conference presentation,
and find a way to succinctly state my area of academic interest and future
career goals in a manner that would make an otherwise stoic academe exclaim, “I
must work with this student!”
One last requirement for this temporary dream job is that I
would not have to take it home with me, so to speak…a job without homework
whose stress I could check at its employee entrance as I strolled to the car at
the end of a shift. A job that I would
have to take seriously enough to avoid being terminated but not seriously
enough to require undue stress. A job at
the golf club I worked at through Seminary.
I interviewed with the new head of banquet staff who hired me on the
spot pending a drug test (I would learn
that this hiring occurred two days before the aforementioned head of banquet
staff flung a stack of event order forms in the air and yelled “I fornicatingly
quit” before walking out the door one last time…an action which had the
[probably] unintended consequence of requiring my first day back at work to
include two shifts with a meeting with a new boss [who had never met me]
occurring between the two events). I spent the year pouring drinks, picking up
dirty plates, moving tables and chairs, and catering to the whims of a portion
of Atlanta’s wealthy elite. I have
purposefully not blogged about work or any of the three churches at which I taught
this year due to the fact that, unlike in Paris, the people I work for and/or
with and/or teach would have a relatively easy time googling my name and
arriving at this blog only to see that I have devoted an afternoon or evening
to constructing what would be, to me and likely many of you, a hilarious piece
of literary genius which would cast them in a less-than-flattering light
causing them to contact my employer/pastor of whatever church I may have taught
at, which would, in turn, cause me to be reprimanded in some manner, which would,
in turn, deny me the aforementioned luxury of leaving work stress at work. I realize that this is likely overly cautious
and that, despite having roughly 500 facebook friends, my blog posts typically
generate substantially less than 500 views, but, alas, I haven’t blogged about
work yet and likely will not do so now.
I will, however, say that those whom I and my colleagues
serve have made/are making quite a decent living as we the workers are
reimbursed with what amounts to barely qualifying for what the government would
refer to as an “annual living wage.” This is not
to say that “the rich” are bad, or to impose judgment on groups or individuals, especially by saying one is "better" or "more Amurrican,"
but rather to say that the disparity in income in this city, has become, to me,
over the course of this year, quite stark. Furthermore, it has not been lost on me that
each day I, personally, am one of many who disposes of a good amount of food, placing it in a
dumpster near a lush golf course tucked just blocks away from a dozen or so
homeless shelters and the tired, weary masses who live shelterless. Perhaps I’ll elaborate on my experiences at a
later date in the form of some kind of extended book-like prose, but for now, I
am satisfied to study and contribute to the further study of religious
responses to socio-economic and political oppression - or at least the religious thought arising from such conditions, whether the call-response motif is accurate or helpful is quite debatable - with my experience of
subservience to a group of “haves” likely serving as the ever-present backdrop to my
scholarly pursuits.
My that was quite a tangent.
Well, over the course of last fall, while working 15-45 hours/week at
the club, I developed several goals for myself, some professional (i.e. start a
career soon, publish something and present something somewhere each calendar
year) and some personal (i.e. read books for fun, be able to pick up and put
down increasingly heavy things [I've recently begun a powerlifting workout regimen that is a lot of fun], continue to enjoy spending time with my wife,
etc.). I’ve hit most of the goals I’ve
set, so here’s to making new ones. We
have set a moving date for the first week of August, I will put in my two
weeks’ notice at the Golf Club today in order to resign the day before Abbey
and I celebrate 5 years of marriage.
Classes begin at the end of August for me while Abbey will continue to
plug away at the leviathan known as the dissertation. All in all it should be an exciting couple of
months then years for the Carrico, Jrs as we continue to pretend to be real,
live, grown ups.
As always, thanks for reading.
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