After two years of unemployment, my friend Mark finally landed a sales job. It’s not exactly what he had in mind as a seasoned management professional at age 52, but after dozens of leads and rejections, this appeared to be the only game in town.
I usually run into Mark when I hit the local Starbucks before work. We often chat about the ups and downs of his job search. In spite of the looming insecurity, he has a fantastic attitude. Even in his lowest moments, he sounds upbeat.
“I know God’s already worked it out for me,” he’ll say, as we sip our toasty beverages.
I sometimes offer to pray for him, in hopes that my meager pleas to the Lord on High will help move the dial in some small way.
“How’d it go?” I asked the other day, after his latest job interview.
“Fine.
Interesting.
Weird.”
He paused, then elaborated. “The guy who interviewed me said the perfect candidate was someone over 50 years old who had been kicked to the curb a few times.”
We looked at each other and laughed.
“Well, that pretty much describes both of us,” I said.
Actually, I know plenty of people who would qualify, with flying colors.
“So I took it,” he said. “The job, I mean.”
“Great!” I exclaimed, imagining the relief, and gave a secret high-five to God. Except that Mark didn’t seem to be celebrating so much. I probed. “Uh, so, what kind of company is it?”
Mark winced a little, and then dropped the bomb. “I’m selling industrial brooms.”
Okay, well, brooms – that’s not so bad, is it? People use industrial brooms all the time! Yes, in factory floors and construction sites, right? How else would they keep the place clean? Working creates such a mess! Praise God for industrial strength brooms!
I was trying hard to put a spiritually positive spin on the situation.
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