So, here's what happened to me. I worked a retail job for the

Holidays last year. This year, I was told by the same retail job at the

Holiday job fair that I would get to come back and do the seasonal job

again. I came in a week later and asked to leave a message with the

person who told me I was hired, but then they never got back to me.

Lo and behold, I came in today to find out what was going on and they

told me that (shocker) I wasn't hired. They told me some bullshit excuse

about how they had me so far back in the line and they were so busy with

background checks for others that I fell off. Which was bullshit,

because I was told I was going to be hired on October 17th. My guess is

that the person who wanted to hire me back got overruled, and they

didn't have the guts to let me know that they didn't want me back. I

would have been fine if they had told that they decided that I wasn't a

fit for the job. I would have taken an email or a phone call, but I got

neither.

It definitely sucked and I spent two hours on the phone

commiserating with my friend Seth, who's also going through unemployment

blues. He's gearing up to do a doctorate (which I really think is the

best idea for him)...meanwhile I'm giving myself another year while

looking into jobs with the possibility of getting another master's

degree. (An urban planning degree to compliment my public history

degree, as I think I want to specialize in the history of urban

renewal.) The hiring window for my field is strongest from about January

to March, so I need to get myself up for this again.

Like Seth said to me, there's no real way to make this feel better

or comfort me, and all I can do is dust myself off and go back on the

application trail. 2013 wasn't a total wash for me- I gained 6 months of

field experience with my volunteering at the local museum, but I think

it's safe to say I won't look back at my 27th year with any great

fondness.

Any of you got a "Blues" tale today? *orders a beer and listens

expectantly*