Unsound Advice!

I can only speak for myself. For me, getting a job has been difficult and, after getting a job, keeping it has also been difficult.

During the initial struggling days, I did manage to find myself a few jobs, often as a salesman, but could not keep them for long. I wasn't a competent salesman and hardly sold anything!

No! I couldn't be a salesman, I must try something else. But what could I do? I didn't have any technical skills.

One day, I met a friend whom I had not seen for a long time. The conversation naturally veered to what we were doing. It turned out he was pursuing a course in journalism. That, of course, set me thinking that journalism was the only career for me; I had never written an original sentence ever in my life, but that did not deter me from believing I was cut to become a journalist.

So, I enrolled in a journalism school. A few months after completing the course, I did find employment as a cub reporter with a local newspaper. The work offered me a lot of freedom; I did not have to stay cooped in an office for eight hours every day. I fell in love with the work.

At last, I thought to myself, I had found my true calling.

Once, the chief reporter asked me to cover a meeting convened by aggrieved clients of a failing bank. Apart from a few fiery speeches, I wasn't likely to find a juicy story. But the assignment had to be done and I went to the meeting.

There were a few fiery speeches, just as I had expected. Where was the story? I decided to meet the chief of the bank depositors' association and gather a few details as to what had caused the bank to fall on bad days. As I made my way towards him, a depositor, correctly guessing from the writing pad in my hand that I was a reporter, wanted to know for which newspaper I worked.

I told him.

The man sneered.

Newspaper readers have their preferences. It was obvious that the man did not think highly of my newspaper.

"Don't work for that newspaper; resign from your job; quit," he advised.

I was taken aback by this piece of advice. After a long struggle I had found myself a job that I liked, and here was a man who wanted me to quit!

"Are you planning to start your own newspaper?" I asked him. "Perhaps, you might hire me," I said hopefully.

"Why should I start a newspaper?" he countered.

"Then, perhaps, you might consider providing me with unemployment benefits," I said.

"Why should I do that?" he shot back scornfully.

This man was neither keen on providing me with a job nor was he inclined to offer me unemployment benefits, but he wanted me to quit my present job. Not a good proposition, I said to myself. Needless to say, I did not heed his advice.