“Resume Roulette”

c. 2017 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

(7-17)

“Nine months retired. It is a reality which I ponder over morning coffee and with the final brew savored long after dark. Unexpected unemployment. A life pause. Time for my tired physical frame to rest. While my cerebral cells gather to compute a way to survive this temporary tempest. No income, no insurance. No work schedule. No responsibilities. No call-back date. No reflection in the mirror. My familiar self is gone. Instead, I see the image of an old fellow with a Jim Beam Poker cap and a scruffy goatee. Happy to be off the wage-slave treadmill, yet sobered by the need to return. For a little while. Because… because I am not yet old enough to count myself as being officially retired. If it were a book, I would title it ‘How to stay alive at 55.’ A guide for those lost in the shuffle of business downsizing.”

A recent day in the home office caused me to think of such things, while working on a condensed version of my personal resume. A document for use on Internet employment websites. A brief calling card to attract attention, with the obvious desire to get a face-to-face follow-up and interview.

My yield was a message ready to send into cyberspace with hope and courage:

From: Rod Ice

Re: Resume

Contact: icewritesforyou@gmail.com

Work Experience:

33 years, retail. A veteran of American Seaway Foods, Fisher’s Big Wheel, Kresse’s Bi-Rite, Janco/B.R. Johnson Maintenance, Rini-Rego Stop-n-Shop, Giant Eagle, CVS Pharmacy. Store management and various duties.

35 years, professional writing. Veteran of The Ithaca Times (Ithaca, NY), Biker Lifestyle Magazine (Redondo Beach, CA), The Geauga County Maple Leaf and Gazette Newspapers. Founder, The Geauga Independent.

Education:

Cornell University Learning Web apprenticeship (1978-1980)

Riser Foods (Rini-Rego) QEI Program

Published Books:

Thoughts At Large (First ten years collection), The Cat And The Strat, Popcorn Season, Who Is Carrie Hamglaze?, Biker Lifestyle – And Beyond.

Blogs:

Thoughts At Large – chardonthoughtsatlarge.blogspot.com

Words On The Loose – wordsontheloose62.blogspot.com

After nine months, I had managed to garner four interviews and no job offers. It was a sobering experience. Lowered expectations did not bring much in additional opportunities. I started to consider more menial employment, simply for the sake of maintaining my connection to the workforce. And some personal sense of dignity. But the result did not change.

Beginning an online newspaper helped bolster my feeling of self-worth. It was a project long ago considered, when I did not have enough free time to act on the idea. Something often discussed with fellow journalistic veteran Mary Malloy Bramstedt, when we reflected on Chardon’s late and lamented ‘Weekly Mail’ newspaper. As a writer, this action created a needed sense of value. It caused me to bring other wordsmiths into the fold, other voices to speak about life in our county. But, it made no money. So I soon returned to the routine of scanning job listings until my eyes grew weary.

I remember a bit of advice that came from my New York friend Paul Race Jr. in distant times: “If you’re going to bust your ass, you might as well do it for money.” He was a talented fellow with three college degrees. Yet he always seemed to be stuck as a laborer lost in the corporate maze. Never quite able to rise through the ranks as he should have done.

My own situation was locked in a pattern of business sale or closure. I had dependably managed to lose my job every six to seven years, for over three decades. This meant that I reached middle age with a varied and colorful resume, yet without the seniority or perks that friends in other careers had enjoyed. It was not an accomplishment worthy of celebration. Career Builder, Monster, Indeed, Ohio Means Jobs… I signed up with all of the familiar websites. My profile on LinkedIn got plenty of notice. But at the end of the day, I remained on the sidelines.

On the bench. No game action. Just a head full of memories and a heart full of determination.

The condensed resume offered one more avenue for advertising my skills. And it constituted another writing project, something I always desired. A new sword for battle. A new standard to bear crossing over into uncharted lands. A symbol of resolve. I had crafted my weapon carefully.

Now, it was time to rejoin the hunt.

Comments or questions may be sent to: icewritesforyou@gmail.com

Write us at: P.O. Box 365 Chardon, OH 44024

Published weekly in the Geauga Independent