Memoirs of a Jobseeker

By Ivano Massari

When Ian Mason’s contract with Snapper Search, Inc. in Dublin, Ireland is not renewed, he embarks on a journey of desperate job seeking that carries him across the Emerald Isle and beyond. His search for a job and for security for his family becomes a journey of self-discovery and increased faith as he is forced to call upon all his facult

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gypsy Shadow Publishing
• Release date: Mar 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781619504639

Ivano Massari

After 16 years of teaching in primary and high schools and at North West University in South Africa, I was fortunate enough to be able to fulfill a lifelong dream when I joined READ Educational Trust as a writer-editor. In 2010 I immigrated to Ireland with my wife and daughter to take up a position as Instructional Designer to the Yahoo/Microsoft Search Alliance Project, after which I worked for different companies as a Learning / Instructional Designer and Technical Writer. I have always had a great love for history, warfare, theology, fantasy and language and have sought to combine these with my other great love-that of writing. The result is my first fantasy novel, Sirion. I have been extremely fortunate in being able to have my wife provide all the illustrations for my book. It was a joyful experience watching her bring the characters and the world, which existed only in words, to life with her extraordinary talent.

Book preview

Contents

Copyright Page

Dedication

Preface

The Dark Clouds Appear

Gone to Pott

Saint Theresa Send Me a Rose

A FAS One on Me

What They Say and What They Mean

The Two Troglodytes

The Good, the Bad and the Weird

About the Author

Memoirs of a Jobseeker

by

Ivano Massari

Illustrated by Manon Massari

All rights reserved

Copyright © August 15, 2013, Ivano Massari

Cover Art and Illustrations Copyright © 2013, Manon Massari

Gypsy Shadow Publishing, LLC.

Lockhart, TX

www.gypsyshadow.com

Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher.

No part of this book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means, including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and email, without prior written permission from Gypsy Shadow Publishing, LLC.

ISBN: 978-1-61950-463-9

Published in the United States of America

First eBook Edition: November 5, 2013

Dedication

To my beloved wife, Manon.

Preface

The stories you are about to read are all true. They have been based upon accounts I have heard from friends, family and colleagues and fictionalized in the person of Ian Mason and his family. I have allowed myself very little license for dramatic effect; only the names of characters and institutions and certain leading details have been changed, to protect the identities of the imbeciles involved.

To my ever patient and loving wife my eternal thanks and love.

Although the events and personages that occupied my interests during those months of writing are now fading to a foggy memory, I still find myself musing over some of the scenarios that passed through the lives of the people I have known. I’ve always fancied myself as a rather practical human being with a realistic outlook on life and the passing pageants that touch on my own life. The ridiculous events that impacted upon the lives of people I have known, however, seemed to have been played in and against a backdrop of surreal interludes that lacked any touchstone with reality. Ten or fifteen years ago work and the process of applying for work seemed to me to function more within the bounds of reality. You applied for a post, if someone of importance decided that you were a good fit for the job you were interviewed, perhaps called again for a second interview and then an offer made. The process was determined by: (a) the type of post being offered and (b) your fitness for the post in terms of skills and ability.

Today, however, the process of applying for a job seems to be run by people imbued with a social miasma that manifests itself as a determined assault on the boundaries of reality, logic and indeed, sanity. The process of placing a jobseeker in a post suited to his skills has been replaced by the process of overwhelming the jobseeker with inane questions that have little or no relationship to the job, but which, according to some predetermined schema, one has to pass in order to be eligible. Keynes, Adam Smith and David Ricardo, not to say Marx and Engels, had they lived in our economic epoch would have had to revise their theses completely. In the land of the one-eyed recruiting king supply and demand, factors of production, and historic determinism have been entirely eclipsed. Interviews have got less to do with being able to do the job than having the ability to play the interview game.

The Dark Clouds Appear

So you see, Ian, we won’t be able to renew your contract. There was an