Since I don't have a lot of time, I'll throw out a few nuggets of info to update my readers (both of them) on what's been happening in the life & times of Your Humble Narrator:
The big Salvation Army/CSN graduation is tomorrow night, and it can't come soon enough. After that, I'll work only 24 hours a week in the SA kitchens. The rest of my time is supposed to be devoted to the all-important job search.
I say "supposed" because many SA program clients don't follow through with their job searches. Case in point: One of my roommates (not RM1) is getting the boot from SA by Friday. While clients are required to log one job search a day, he recorded only two within a week. Funny because he'd been telling me about all the interviews he was going on, and that he was supposedly starting a new job this week. He was going out in business attire so I believed him. Guess he was taking off to do his own thing.
We've lost a couple of kitchen workers recently. One guy bolted because he refused to comply with SA rules concerning tardiness: At the third offense the violator must stay in the common dorms for a week. The common dorms are where a lot of the street characters stay ($8/night for a bed) and doesn't have the same amenities or privileges of the vocational dorms. The guy said he had too much pride to go there. Evidently he had enough pride to voluntarily hit the streets. I hear he found a place at an extended stay hotel.
Another guy was discharged for excessive tardiness and calling in sick too often. After one such sick call he was ratted out for taking off to play basketball all day at a nearby park. He's one of those guys who thinks the world revolves around his schedule.
I think another kitchen worker is set to be discharged. He's a tall, lanky ex-heroin addict in his early 20s who always looks like he's wandering around in a daze. I wonder if he really is an "ex-" junkie. He showed up the other morning and promptly threw up into a garbage can while we watched in disbelief. He hung around long enough to wash a few dishes, then left due to illness. I think he's allergic to the idea of actually working. We're taking odds on how long he actually lasts there.
Other people I've known who have come and gone: A woman who worked in the SA lobby is now living on the sidewalk in a bedroll in front of the building. When not not in front of the building she can be spotted constantly wandering up and down Owens Avenue. I heard she failed three breathalyzer tests on three separate occasions and was released.
A guy in the SA kitchens who took off after receiving a "big (monetary) windfall" burned through it, then called a former workmate to say he was going to commit suicide. He didn't, but he's no longer allowed on the SA grounds. He now stays in a shelter run by Catholic Charities. By the way, the amount of his "big windfall" was $1500.
A couple of women I was attracted to have both been discharged. One had a history of mental instability and wandered off the SA campus, disappearing for two days. She returned and created a scene when she screamed and yelled to be readmitted (she wasn't). Last I heard, she was in some rehab program but details are sketchy. The other woman got busted for dealing illegal pills and was taken away by the cops. She never returned. I know how to pick 'em, eh?
While the turnover rate at SA has been historically high, it seems to have accelerated recently. A couple of girls were also discharged recently. Most of those dismissed tend to have an "I'm gonna do what I want attitude". Since so many clients have come from various forms of incarceration, my guess is they're sticking with an attitude that worked behind bars. But it doesn't fly on the outside.
Since SA is fairly lenient when it comes to putting up with lateness and illness, these misfits decide to abuse the privilege, as it were. But if they can't succeed at SA (which wants them to succeed), how can they abide in the real world. There are too many qualified job seekers for employers to put up with self-centered attitudes and actions.
I'm taking off in a few minutes to eat lunch and hopefully grab a nap before heading back to the CSN campus for class. We continue prepping foods for the graduation bash, and a lot of it is coming together nicely. A mango sorbet tasted tangy, and a nougat almondine was sweet as candy. Unfortunately, the guy in charge of that project forgot and left the almondine in the oven way too long. The stuff was fused to the baking pan, rendered unusable (except as shards we used for snacks).
My team was working on mushroom caps stuffed with crab meat -- two foods I find repellent, actually. But we got our work done so early that we essentially stood around for two hours and helped out other classmates when we could.
While I've mentioned how little I enjoy cooking, I've been doing more of it recently in the SA kitchens. I've cooked eggs, hash browns, run the deep fryer, made salads, and thrown together meals for the free homeless menu. Most of my efforts have been met with approval; a supervisor tasted my homeless concoction and stated, "Hell, I'd eat it." So would I, were I living on the street. But I choose to take it as a compliment.
At CSN the other night I blindsided everyone by producing the highest score in the class. While your narrator is indeed humble, I simply state this to let you know that humbleness need not equal stupidity. Simply put I don't necessarily believe in bragging because it's a waste of breath, imo"Light 'em up, blow 'em out like candles."
More updates coming. For now, that's a wrap!
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