Rejection

Ive recently been rejected from a job for what feels like the 1000th time this year. So, I am writing this, to make me I guess feel better.

"Hi there, I am a poor university student looking for a -"

"No"

"To whom it my concern, I'm a full time university student looking for a --"

"Your background is impressive, but no"

"Hi there, I was just --"

"No"

"But I -"
"No"

Looking and searching for employment, like an animal for food or a person looking for water in the desert.

Job opportunities are like a mirage in the oppressive heat of the desert. They appear when you're most desperate. You widen your tired eyes, rub them once or twice, just to see if what you're seeing is real and then you run, and you run with hope in your thoughts and resume in hand to apply and you get there, and it keeps getting further and further away until it fades into nothing but disappointment.

And its like you never learnt or just forgot, because you keep going and going and trying and trying, even if you know its going to turn into nothing - because it felt so real, you could almost hear "You're hired" escape from your potential employers lips, but yet, to no avail you get the same generic email over and over again, week by week, month by month and soon enough, year by year.

Unemployment.

It stares you in the face; those who are cosily employed laugh in your face or whinge and whine about how horrible their life is. It stares you down, until you feel no longer valuable.

Friends and family treat you like a charity case - you have little to no choice to let your partner buy dinner, you have little to no choice to let your parents pay your bills.

You have little to no choice.

You are little and are nothing - just a statistic.

We're all just statistics - an expense; a number.

Reviews

[Chris]

I know times are still hard... you might think toward some volunteer work just to keep your Resume' active and current as well as your skills. Been there a time or two myself.

[Symphonic_Sunflowers]

Thanks for the advice, Chris! but since I wrote this things have certainly gotten better = ha ha! I have 2 jobs actually lol

[Chris]

Well, if its by your own choice - good for you. But the advice still stands for anyone facing a long dry spell of workless periods. On a Resume' it shows the person puts in personal effort and maintains skill levels.

[Mr. D]

That's correct. You are just a number in life to everyone. At your job, at your house, at everything really. No one really cares about anyone but only for what they can get out of you. That's why I shun social relationships with people. But not everyone can be like me. Oh well.

[Symphonic_Sunflowers]

Damn, alright homie haha

[Mr. D]

No, you get it, and I like that. People don't care about you. They never will. They use you, abuse you, and when you're used up, they lose you. That's the cycle of life.

But if it makes you feel better, it took me 33 years to find a job. But for most of it, I wasn't really looking. *shrug*

[Symphonic_Sunflowers]

Tbh I don't really think that. I mean, I did when I was 16 and frustrated I couldn't land a permanent job when I wrote this but it really depends on who you let in your life.
Some people, sure, just use and abuse you, but others do and will care about you.

[Mr. D]

I'd rather not deal with having friends or losing them. I shun friendship, most family, and especially romantic relationships. They mean nothing to me. Just less stuff for me to lose or to be taken away from me by inside or outside influence. If a woman told me she loved me, or someone told me they wanted to be friends with me, I'd probably laugh out loud at such a ridiculous notion.

[Symphonic_Sunflowers]

Well, I kind of feel sorry for you. And find it cruel to laugh at someone if they were to extend themselves to you and want to develop a relationship with you, platonic or romantic. But if you're happy and feel fulfilled in your choice then, I wish you the best! 🌻

[Mr. D]

Let me ask you a serious question:

Which is better? To accept someone's invitation, let them in, and have them destroy you in any number of ways or to nip a cursed flower in the bud before it has a chance to spread its poisonous pollen? I await your answer.

[Symphonic_Sunflowers]

Not everyone is out to destroy you.
I'd rather open myself up to the risk. I'm certainly more optimistic than you and more hope for things to work out instead of expecting it to end horribly.
I lost alot of my friends, because my childhood friend raped me and they're all completely ok with being friends with a rapist. I cannot relate and chose to remove myself but I am still optimistic and open myself up to the chance of making new friends, no matter how terrified I am of getting hurt.

[Mr. D]

Sorry, but I find optimism to be like a poison. It's almost like a refusal to see the world for what it really is: a pit and a shithole. But anyway, I'll stop there since I don't want to argue with anyone. I do that enough with other people. If you don't embrace my beliefs, that's cool. All I can say is I hope you're a strong woman because you're in for a lot of pain opening your heart to people. In any case, have a nice day. :)

[Symphonic_Sunflowers]

Alright dude ✌️

[augustus]

I'm sure you've heard this many times - Don't give up! Keep trying! At your age, you've got every chance of a change in fortune! At 82 years of age,! know!

[Symphonic_Sunflowers]

Thank you so much for your review! I wrote this over 4 years ago and ive only just now returned to this site haha
Thank you for your review, it brought back some nice nostalgia for me, which is perfect timing. The last few days have been really rough for me.
And thank you! For your kind words! I'm still struggling to find permanent work but I'm floating nicely with a casual job in a grocery store and freelancing as a writer 💕
I hope you have a lovely evening

[augustus]

Thank you for your kind words. I hope you can put the 'rough' days behind you.

[Great Aunt Astri]

So very, very true. It is so important to make people feel valued, and unemployment negates all that. You can't even earn a living writing, these days and have to pay for your own publication more often than not. What is the World coming to!

[Woody]

Honest writing. writing about it, you're probably trying to chase bad luck away. but, hey, you're young, for God's sake. keep trying. you made it sound like you've been trying for 20 or 30 years. yeah, I'm sure you've heard it countless times. never give up :)

[Symphonic_Sunflowers]

Thanks Woody! It feels like 20/30 years haha

[J.A. Marquez]

Bold and honest, just how I like it! This is true for countless people these days, young and old. Getting a job in today's market is a real challenege. It takes loads of perseverance and humility. It is especially difficult when the only available employment is hourly and you find yourself over qualified. These types of employers are more likely to hire the person who will cost them the least. It actually pays not to have a degree in some cases! Times are changing. You wrote this well, gave it some real weight. I hope things turn up for you soon! Thaks for your story.

[Symphonic_Sunflowers]

Thank you so much J.A :) But yeah, I'm turning 18 in 2 months, so its so hard because obviously they're going to want the 16 year old and not the almost 18 year old attending university. Thank you for the review :)

[Marcus K]

This is very true. Sometimes i think being treated like a charity case is worse than the next rejection letter. i'm finding writing carries the same "rejection curse". Loose track of who you sent to last, not to mention how many you've been rejected by.

[Symphonic_Sunflowers]

Absolutely agree with you. I'm so glad that this story has been received well! I was worried that it'd be ridiculed. I know that if I posted it anywhere on my Facebook or personal social media accounts a lot of people would tell me to just suck it up. :)

Thank you so much for the review, Marcus K

[Marcus K]

Most social media sites aren't filled with members of the same "society". Writers are special - we understand each other more I think because of our willingness to share.

[Symphonic_Sunflowers]

I agree :) feel free to check out any other of my stories!

[Valerie]

This is just so real. I relate to this so much. It truly is hard and I often feel like giving up. But we musn't lose hope. Good luck to you!

[Symphonic_Sunflowers]

Thankyou, Valerie :)

[wordman]

well this is a grim out look on life,but it sounds familiar lol

[Symphonic_Sunflowers]

Haha yeah, just a little bit :p thanks for the review, Wordman! :3

[wordman]

you are welcome

[Kimberly Navarro]

Nice way of putting this experience we all know and have dealt with into words