jobseeker

Never had unemployment rears its ugly head so close to me. I was flipping through today's copy of Straits Times broadsheet; minding my own business when a svelte lady hurriedly approached me. In crisp English, she asked to borrow the Recruit Section. I gave her a 2 second head to toe scrutiny before coming to the conclusion that she is merely here to just borrow the paper and not to chat me up. =(

She took the paper gratefully when i told her could keep the paper indefinitely. In her eagerness to focus on the small prints on the paper, she failed to notice my incessant you-should-write-your-number-on-the-paper-before-returning-it-to-me winking of the right eye. My undistracted left eye noticed the paper she was clutching in her hand was full of scribbling. As I tried fruitlessly to pierce a hold through the paper with my intense stare, I noticed that it carried a list of job titles with corresponding banks' names. She muttered to herself, as if I needed to know the reason behind her triumphant hisses of 'yes' when she found a matching job code.

In her early thirties, well dressed and probably worked in the financial sector; her silent desperation painted to me the uncertainties of the future ahead. Beginning with reverse causality, I pondered... Was her look of desperation a result of her retrenchment? Or was her retrenchment a result of her look of desperation? Does she have children or elderly dependants to take care of? Is she willing to have her cake and eat it and settle for a lower paying job? Was this the sign of an impending recession? Will i become like her? Would i be able to find a decent paying job? Do i have a retirement plan? I was prevented from sinking deeper into my abyss of self obliteration when she thanked me and took her leave. I watched her leave and hoped that she would be able to join the workforce again soon. I then took the Classified section from the table and flipped through the pages of job openings...

darn.. she didn't leave her number on any of the pages..