Recent Desperations

About a month ago lunchtime, in the sunny thicket of the Tupperware and tin foil crowd in Portland's Pioneer Square, there was a man looking for work. He was dressed nicely, maybe in a suit but at the very least a shirt, tie and pants with cuffs and pleats. He was holding a stack of resumes in one hand and glad handing with the other. Nothing unusual. Except that to his waist was tethered an enormous white balloon, swaying at the top of a 25 foot rope, that read, "Marketing Job Wanted." I don't know if anyone offered him a job, but about seven hundred people took his photograph with their cell phones.

Yesterday while I was waiting on the same square for a train home, there was another man looking for work. This man was dressed more casually, a clean t-shirt with jeans, comfortable shoes and a messenger bag slung over his shoulder. I saw him first from a distance, handing out small white cards that I assumed to be advertisements for diet pills, dance clubs or massage. But people were actually taking his cards. And smiling. And talking to him. And he was moving fast, handing me this card about thirty seconds later.



"Will you visit my website and email it to one hundred and fifty of your friends?" he asked.

"I don't know Dave, what are your qualifications?"

"Oh I can do lots of things. I really just need work" he said.

I didn't agree to send it to one hundred and fifty of my friends, but I can say that his website is a pretty good read. I can also say that in the five minutes I waited for the train, he handed out about fifty of these cards to total strangers. I don't know if anyone will ever hire him, but I do like those odds.