Jobseeker’s Diary

A few days ago, one of my friends was telling me about a string of emails he has received notifying him about job opportunities in the DRC. I teased him about being so out of touch that he doesn’t know about the thousands of scam emails that promise unsuspecting unemployed people jobs only to rip them off later. My friend corrected me, saying the emails were in fact from legitimate sources and that there are indeed vacancies in Congo. “Look Sophie,” he said, “many people die from disease and war and so their posts need to be filled,” he attempted to convince me. And apparently because of the instability in the country, people’s lives are often disrupted and as a result, not many of them have been able to complete school, making for a shortage of professionals. My friend went ahead to suggest that we should get our “schooled” selves over there and who knows, we could land our dream jobs. For some reason, I found that amusing and I remember laughing about it for a good five minutes. But then I sobered up. This was nothing to laugh about. The reason there were openings was largely because people have and continue to lose their lives. Jumping at the opportunity to take their place is not something I’d like to do. It reminded me of a documentary I watched where two patients were waiting for heart transplants. The woman was in high spirits and couldn’t understand why the man was so glum and cranky. They were after all in hospital to get new hearts and should be looking forward to healthier lives. The man told her he couldn’t celebrate because getting a good heart would only happen if someone with a healthy heart got shot or died in a car accident and “you can’t be happy about that,” he told her. It also reminded me of the times I used to wonder whether funeral service providers actually hope or even pray that more people die. That’s the only way to sustain the business, right? It also reminds me of a number of people who are upbeat that used cars from Japan are going to be a lot cheaper now. Those cars whose owners passed away are undoubtedly going to be sold off. Turns out they’re not the only ones thinking along those lines. Warren Buffet, yes that billionaire investor has also stated that the extraordinary events in Japan offer a “buying opportunity.” They never lied when they said you have to be aggressive to make it in business. So I asked my friend if he would take up a job in an unstable area. He said he would, reasoning that you can only die if your time is up. “Then your job will be re-advertised and the cycle will continue,” I quipped. Personally, and I’ve said this before, I just can’t handle living on the edge. I have a lot of respect for volunteers, especially those working in war zones and disaster-struck areas. There are also reporters without whom we wouldn’t know what really goes down in those heated conflict areas. But I just can’t take up such jobs. What if I’m maimed or contract some incurable disease? An Al Jazeera photographer was killed in Libya just the other week and now I read that workers attempting to stabilize that Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan have been exposed to radiation, with two of them being hospitalized. So, no thank you. I’m happy to keep my very humble job, even if it means I won’t retire young as I’d hoped I would. To be continued… nsophie77@yahoo.com