I am spending my morning hoping that a change to a new cafe would allow me to focus and invigorate my job search. Not that I have not been searching actively this week – but I can feel myself losing steam and I need to keep applying and being active. What I truly discovered though is that people in this area are odd.
Directly across from me sits a girl, who is gorgeous , but quite unique and attempting to be different. Her dreadlocks alone must have taken years to make – I am assuming, without any basis for the assumption except her manner of dress that she is a creative type affiliated in some way with the graduate schools. At the table next to her sit three men in suits eating eggs Benedict and discussing strategies for a joint business venture.
Around the course sits three Southerner fo the old school, a man in a suit, woman in a suit with nurse’s shoes, and an overweight woman in her sixties. Overly a lively coffee they are discussing life with tangents back to their true purpose – discussing fundraising for their church. At many of the other tables are propel, a few seem to be job searching like myself, many others are doing research for grad school or their professional career.
The tables adjacent me typify this. At one is an Asian woman watching a presentation on her computer. At another is a 1L who is reading his Emanuel book on civil procedure as he prepares for exams that are three weeks away. Directly in front of me is a first year business student and his second year mentor. The first year is idealistic and job hunting – which as I know is not a good combination in this market. His mentor is hung up on money and networking and prestige, as most b-students are, but he cannot hide his pomposity and his charm, which he is long on, is falling flat. The idealist’s dream job is Whole Foods, this guy is pushing him towards WalMart – they are not speaking the same language.
Just sitting down – across the room are two men in bears and plaid. They look out of place among the grad students and yuppies, but no one appears to notice. Not even the 70+ year old man in exercise shorts and a tee-shirt, even though it is the 50s, with sweat still on his brow.
As I check my neighborhood listserv, I get an email inviting me to the monthly drum circle – a feature of the neighborhood culture that seems oddly out of place in my middle class historic area. Until you remember that Durham prides itself on its diversity and has a large alternative streak and is more open to hippies and hipster then many other areas in the state. The University types that populate my neighborhood pride themselves on this openness and hence it encourage it, which in many ways is a good thing, even if I don’t always participate. For example, one feature all tables have in common -we all have chosen this restaurant that prides itself on sustainability and regional production – of course we are in a liberal eco-friendly town right and surrounded by farms so that is easier.
As I observe, work and network, I am also thinking. I am distressed by some aspects of a conversation I had with a friend yesterday about education policy in this state, and want to do something about it. But I also want to move, and be able to fund myself – which means that doing something from scratch may not happen unless I can figure out how to fund myself while doing so quickly. I am thinking about the upcoming holidays – and the drive to Florida I will be making in a few days. I am curious as to how my extended family is doing – my cousin in Iraq, my other cousin the newlywed who never replies to contact from me though we used to be close, my cousins who are starting new ventures in school and/or employment. I am worried about my grandfather whose elder brother who is 94 I believe is dying. I am curious as to what friends who I have not seen in years, but whom I still feel close to, from college are up to. I am interested to hear how my friend newly arrived in Jerusalem is doing. But mostly I am wondering how long it took a blonde white girl to grow what appears to be three feet of dreadlocks – I am not sure I have that kind of dedication – and I am hoping, for her sake, that she as a good shaped head to fall back on when she shaves it off.
As I write, my computer is helping me churn through job prospects and networking options, just as my mind churns over my neighboring tables. The result of all of this churning is that I am convincing myself that today the calls will come in and the returns on my investment of time will be made and I will no longer be one of the networking job hunters sitting at this cafe that other observe and pass judgment on.
All text and copyrights preserved by the author 02csb
For more information visit http://www.peebesalgy.com
Courtney Brown![](\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"http://badge.facebook.com/badge/3902673.226.1776241124.png\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"){kind=icon}
Create Your Badge All text and copyrights preserved by the author for words and original pictures and may not be used without author's permission. For more information visit http://www.peebesalgy.com Follow me on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/peebesalgy or contact me directly through http://www.peebesalgy.com/blog/contact-me/ Courtney Brown | Create Your Badge
on 
on 
on 
on 
good post…fucking recession.