Get a Job
Hugh Neeld is a freelance columnist for TylerPaper.com.
One of the things with which I’ve been concerned lately is the uncertainty of the economy and unemployment. Every time I picked up a paper or turned on TV, there was news about lay-offs, really big ones, with thousands out of a job. Things looked pretty dismal, that’s for sure.
Then the situation started to improve. A recent headline said, U-S BUSINESSES HIRING ON THE UPTURN. FEAR OF RECESSION EASING.
I wondered aloud to my wife one night if unemployment (or the fear of it) changed the thinking and attitude of today’s young people.
“Why don’t you go interview some of them,” she said, “and see for yourself?”
My wife is not one to whom you want to pose a rhetorical question. It wasn’t a bad idea, though, and I set out to do that very thing the next day.
One place nearby where I’d seen lots of folks working was on US 79. I was even acquainted with one. The young man I knew was a flagger for the Texas Highway Department. Often times, I was the lead car in a line of cars he’d stopped while opposing traffic used the single lane. Each time, I’d roll down the window, and we’d visit for a few minutes. Luckily, I was again in position for a visit.
“Hola, Hector,” I said. “What’s happening?”
Hector feels that fortune has smiled on him.
“Not only have I had a steady job for more than a year,” he said, “but I’ll be taking the National Safety Council’s Flagger Training course pretty soon in Austin. That’s good insurance.”
Not only that, I thought to myself, but as long as this road project is going to take, you may retire here.
My next visit was with Bobbi Broadus, a highly ambitious young lady I’d heard about, who has been the receptionist for a chiropractic clinic in Tyler for about six months. She said that she is seriously considering returning to school to pursue a degree in chiropractic medicine.
“When I first got this job, I didn’t really know what a chiropractor did,” Bobbi said, straightening the magazines in the waiting room. “But after working at the clinic for a few months now, it seems like it would be a great career.”
Bobbi has already begun researching the possible career move, talking recently to Dr. Lester Lamply, one of four chiropractors at the clinic, about what it’s like to be a chiropractor. She then logged onto the web site for Dallas Chiropractic College, Lamply’s alma mater.
“They have a program at Dallas Chiro where I could finish in three and a half years,” she said. “The first year and a half can be done in night classes, so I wouldn’t even have to stop working until my third semester.”
According to Bobbi, working at the chiropractic clinic gives her a considerable head start over future classmates.
“Just being in this office, I’ve soaked up a ton of knowledge about the field,” she said. “I mean, all day long, I’m writing down messages from patients regarding the condition of their backs and then relaying them to the doctors. You can’t help but learn when you’re doing stuff like that.”
Bobbi said that when she graduated, she accepted a managerial job at Burger King.
"I really wanted to buy a car,” Bobbi said, “so I figured school could wait.”
After four years there, she decided to get out of the fast-food field.
“It was time to explore other options,” she said.
Bobbi next got a job as receptionist at a small law firm.
“For a while,” she said, “I was pretty serious about going into law. I even got some brochures from a mail-order law school, but then I got a job as a secretary at an advertising agency, and found that field much better suited to my skills.”
After numerous career detours and false starts, Bobbi believes she has found her true calling.
”I think I’m really well-suited to being a chiropractor,” she said. “For example, I give amazing back rubs, so I know I’d be good at working the various spinal bones. I just have, like, a natural aptitude with the human body.”
Bobbi said she would likely be able to do her six-month internship at Dallas Chiro, and that upon graduation, she’d have an inside track to a job at the clinic.
“The doctors are always complaining about how they’re understaffed,” she said. “They seriously need more chiropractors working here. Believe me, I should know. I do patient scheduling.”
Back home again, my uncertainties about the young people in today’s job market were put to rest. I firmly believe that, with people like Hector and Bobbie we have nothing to fear—well, not too much, anyway.
A question to ponder:
If a turtle loses his shell, is he homeless or naked?
putterhugh@suddenlink.net
Hugh Neeld is a freelance columnist for TylerPaper.com.
Then the situation started to improve. A recent headline said, U-S BUSINESSES HIRING ON THE UPTURN. FEAR OF RECESSION EASING.
I wondered aloud to my wife one night if unemployment (or the fear of it) changed the thinking and attitude of today’s young people.
“Why don’t you go interview some of them,” she said, “and see for yourself?”
My wife is not one to whom you want to pose a rhetorical question. It wasn’t a bad idea, though, and I set out to do that very thing the next day.
One place nearby where I’d seen lots of folks working was on US 79. I was even acquainted with one. The young man I knew was a flagger for the Texas Highway Department. Often times, I was the lead car in a line of cars he’d stopped while opposing traffic used the single lane. Each time, I’d roll down the window, and we’d visit for a few minutes. Luckily, I was again in position for a visit.
“Hola, Hector,” I said. “What’s happening?”
Hector feels that fortune has smiled on him.
“Not only have I had a steady job for more than a year,” he said, “but I’ll be taking the National Safety Council’s Flagger Training course pretty soon in Austin. That’s good insurance.”
Not only that, I thought to myself, but as long as this road project is going to take, you may retire here.
My next visit was with Bobbi Broadus, a highly ambitious young lady I’d heard about, who has been the receptionist for a chiropractic clinic in Tyler for about six months. She said that she is seriously considering returning to school to pursue a degree in chiropractic medicine.
“When I first got this job, I didn’t really know what a chiropractor did,” Bobbi said, straightening the magazines in the waiting room. “But after working at the clinic for a few months now, it seems like it would be a great career.”
Bobbi has already begun researching the possible career move, talking recently to Dr. Lester Lamply, one of four chiropractors at the clinic, about what it’s like to be a chiropractor. She then logged onto the web site for Dallas Chiropractic College, Lamply’s alma mater.
“They have a program at Dallas Chiro where I could finish in three and a half years,” she said. “The first year and a half can be done in night classes, so I wouldn’t even have to stop working until my third semester.”
According to Bobbi, working at the chiropractic clinic gives her a considerable head start over future classmates.
“Just being in this office, I’ve soaked up a ton of knowledge about the field,” she said. “I mean, all day long, I’m writing down messages from patients regarding the condition of their backs and then relaying them to the doctors. You can’t help but learn when you’re doing stuff like that.”
Bobbi said that when she graduated, she accepted a managerial job at Burger King.
"I really wanted to buy a car,” Bobbi said, “so I figured school could wait.”
After four years there, she decided to get out of the fast-food field.
“It was time to explore other options,” she said.
Bobbi next got a job as receptionist at a small law firm.
“For a while,” she said, “I was pretty serious about going into law. I even got some brochures from a mail-order law school, but then I got a job as a secretary at an advertising agency, and found that field much better suited to my skills.”
After numerous career detours and false starts, Bobbi believes she has found her true calling.
”I think I’m really well-suited to being a chiropractor,” she said. “For example, I give amazing back rubs, so I know I’d be good at working the various spinal bones. I just have, like, a natural aptitude with the human body.”
Bobbi said she would likely be able to do her six-month internship at Dallas Chiro, and that upon graduation, she’d have an inside track to a job at the clinic.
“The doctors are always complaining about how they’re understaffed,” she said. “They seriously need more chiropractors working here. Believe me, I should know. I do patient scheduling.”
Back home again, my uncertainties about the young people in today’s job market were put to rest. I firmly believe that, with people like Hector and Bobbie we have nothing to fear—well, not too much, anyway.
A question to ponder:
If a turtle loses his shell, is he homeless or naked?
putterhugh@suddenlink.net
Hugh Neeld is a freelance columnist for TylerPaper.com.
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