So i was lookin' on Craig's List today at housing in theatre-friendly cities. Y'know, big, overpopulated cities with high crime rates, few available jobs, and insanely expensive rent. The kinds of towns in or near which I would have to live in order to do the job I'm most qualified for. The kinds of towns I, along with every other claustrophobic person in the world, despise.
And y'know what? The career I've chosen to pursue directly prevents me from being able to afford housing within a four-hour commute from any of these cities. The only way I'd be able to do it and contribute a fair part to payment is to share a one-bedroom flat with four or five other people. Which, frankly...no. Sharing a room with one rarely-present girl in uni was unpleasant enough (as anyone who's heard the "Chinese food made into the bed for a week" story can vouch for) and i think i've outgrown the stage of life in which i'd be content to climb into a bunk at sleepaway camp. The only adults i've ever known of to do that are soldiers, prisoners, and the occasional renaissance faire performer.
In the Bay area its $500/month to rent a trailer park space. Not even a trailer. Just an open spot on the ground that someone says its okay for you to park in. Pay half a thousand dollars monthly for 32x10 feet of...space. Just enough room for you to back in your wheeled house and be able to hear your neighbors whispering with the windows closed.
My question is this--who the hell thought cities would be a good idea? "I have a brilliant plan--lets cram millions of people into the tiniest amount of space possible--make 'em crawl into each other's laps if we have to--where all other flora and fauna (excepting mildew and cockroaches) asphyxiate and die and the human inhabitants are choked on the stench of their own compacted bodies. Let's then make it so expensive to have a home here that everyone must work two full-time jobs to afford the luxury of crawling into someone else's lap to sleep. Then, let's make it so expensive to run a business here that employers will have to make do on the smallest number of employees possible, creating rampant job scarcity! Tada! A recipe for producing the highest per-capita rates of homelessness, anxiety disorders, drug abuse, and overall failure in the country. So why do people move here in the first place? Why on earth would anyone subject themselves to this sort of torture? Why, because its the promised land of opportunity!
And if you don't live in or around a city you probably live in Nowheresville, South Carolina and don't have all of your teeth. Which is fine, if you didn't want them anyway. Because there really aren't opportunities outside of cities. Its just unfortunate that there really aren't opportunities in them either.
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2 comments:
You stayed up way to late writing this. It is funny and relevant and wonderful...but more sleep would help you feel better about the jobless abyss we seem to be entering. Maybe you should try out this whole Informational Interview thing...just to see what outside of theatre construction (aside from nursing or teaching) you might be able to do (and somewhat interested in doing). Who knows? -- kim -- a roommate who does not fold food into her sheets.
the issue i've realized recently concerning the pursuit of another job field is that i've backed myself into a corner. As it stands, with my history in scenery, even props wouldn't call me for an interview. An office-based HR reviewer would just look at me funny. Its kinda pathetic, but anything else i'd like to pursue would require going back to school.
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