It’s Trader John’s new location. The landlord at the old place raised the rent too high, so this new location is on Federal Highway, near Johnson. That will eliminate almost all the foot traffic. It is either too hot or too dangerous (from the crazy drivers) in that part of town. This picture showing the couple walking past is not realistic. You will need a vehicle to go and shop there now.
Cancer Steve was in the shop, apologizing to everyone. All is forgiven but again, nobody wants to chance a repeat. When asked if he wanted Pudding-Tat back he kind of didn’t answer. They’ve got him on some kind of psycho counseling program.All day on the Internet, polishing up my resume. I’ve worded it to attract the kind of attention given by human resource departments and really pushed the fact that mature students want instructors who can relate to them on their own level. Even I have learned to dislike taking courses from 30 year-olds. They know computers but not much else. Question: how did Bell South know I had to fill out an on-line 17-page document and choose today to step the speed down to 15 kbps? How do they know?
[Author's note: this "resume" is a compilation of facts designed to match the well-know criteria of HR departments that cruise the Internet. It contains very little useful information and is not a very useful document unless I get called in for the interview. In the end, I was turning down the jobs, not the other way around. If you think the people looking for work on-line are seedy, you should see some of the places that go there looking for employees.]
Everybody at the shop is feeling the super pinch, there is no money left to be had in this town unless you have a dead end job. Florida is not the place to carve out a career. The guys will never leave the shop because it is common knowledge they use the place to get away from the wives. All married guys think bachelors have it made. Wrong, those guys don’t realize just how dang many married men are on the prowl. It seems like ten or fifteen for each woman.
The customers are mostly men, so the discussion went all day, each putting in their two bits on the topic. Myself, I noticed right after I got here that women in this area do no “go out to meet guys” like they do in most places. I’ve never considered this wrong, as I’ve seen it elsewhere in pockets, but it is interesting to hear married men mention it. Florida women are far more likely to put an ad in the paper or join a dating club. This succeeds mainly in letting the desperate men know where the desperate women are. I’ve never doubted the right woman for me will come along at the right time, it’s the meanwhile that is a little tough. And knowing when is the right time--whew, that is a zinger!
ADDENDUM
RofR’s theory prevails. It costs money to go out, so most women can’t afford to embark on a long-term search for quality. There are no known hangouts for singles over maybe 28, another factor working strongly against women in that age group. If there was such a place, I’d go there right now, knowing it would not last another week. The few “singles” bars I’ve checked out in this area utterly horrified me. Three hundred pound grandmothers with plucked eyebrows being hustled by used car salesmen in their father’s suits.
I have always relied on chance encounters, but in situations where I can tip the chances in my favor. Libraries, bookstores, cafes, lounges, teaching, performing and travel. You can rule out most of those methods in this town, even the cafes have frumpy middle-aged housewife waitresses. You are welcome to look around but the pickings are really that bad. You will notice that even the laziest, dumbest, pot-head, smelly redneck that’s lived here long enough has a live-in girlfriend. Dating for the working classes around here is strongly a money-based activit--until they pair off. Then the guy continues scrounging and the old lady stays at home. It’s the life cycle of the credit card class.
Another thing that puzzles me is how many people think that Brannigan’s or Red Lobster are good pickup joints. I’ve gone over this before, but these places are restaurants, for crying out loud. Sure, there is a counter with stools, but most of the place is restaurant booths. How does it work? Do you guys peek over the back to eyeball what she’s eating and how well her kids behave? Then, finding your quarry, how do you break the ice? Buy her table a round of desserts? Send her a side salad? Slide her a two-for-one coupon? Leave a bigger tip than the guy she’s with?
Can anyone tell me how that is supposed to work?
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