#67 A Tough Autumn, 2019

.....as if I were caught in an a upside-down daydream.

In November, after the latest section hike, the drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and a backpacking trip in Grayson Highlands, I thought I was ready to spend the cold months working a part time job. It wasn’t because I was looking for something to do or wanting to prove to myself I could do it. No. I was looking for a part time job because we were running out of money, and the art venues in which I participate in were winding down for the winter. I was still a year and a half away from beginning this newsletter, and all the money we received from the sale of our home and my business had been spent.

Thinking of simple jobs that are close by, I contacted the grocery store around the corner from my apartment complex. I’d worked in a grocery store for a couple of years through high school, and a couple years beyond, so I knew something about what’s expected. Thinking maybe this could be low stress job where I could just go in, stock some shelves, then go home, I’d give it a shot.

What should have been a simple interview revealed to me that I was not yet prepared to participate in society. The combination of a weak interviewer and an emotionally distraught interviewee went a little something like this: