It's an interesting phrase? What would Jesus do? It's worn on lots of bracelets all the time, and seems to be a wonderful catch phrase. How much of a perfect answer it is when you're in a dilemna to think what would Jesus do? And yet... seriously.. sometimes you come across situations where you're like What WOULD Jesus do? And sometimes the answer would be... well he'd do this and this but I can't do that...
ie. If someone is sick, and you want to do something. What would Jesus do? Well he'd heal them. Well you can't exactly do that.
In fact, a lot of situations now a days aren't anything similar to what happened in bible days. We do a lot of inferring, but there are so many gray areas it sometimes feels very dangerous to solidly pick one side over the other. Sure for Jesus, its' easy.. he just asks himself what would I do? Then he'd do it. It's a lot harder for us. There are very general concepts we know of and we can follow. But life isn't so general in our day to day lives. What would Jesus do against same sex marriage? What would Jesus do against pirated DVD's? What would Jesus do against the war in Iraq? What would Jesus do against capital punishment?
Sometimes I wonder... if asking the question is a cliche. Is it even a fair question? Do we know our closest friend well enough to know what he would do in every situation? At any rate, I believe the question is valid. But sometimes I wonder how applicable it is? And how cheesy it is when I say it to others. I wonder if on judgement day you can claim ignorance. "I honestly thought that's what you would do?" But oh how dangerous that would be.
MSN
Gone are the days when ICQ was the main stream type of online conversation. The patented uh Oh is a distant memory to the now common Ding and Dong. Perhaps it was the massive spam of ICQ, or the problems ICQ had. Or maybe it was just that MSN came with windows.
There are 3 types of MSN contacts.
1. The instigators: Those that message people first. (I call them the carers. They care enough to message you first.)
2. The Receivers: The ones that respond when you message them first, but never message you first. (I call them the friendly friends. Very good with responses, always someone to talk to when you're bored.)
3. Left overs: These are the people that only message you when they want something. And when you message them, and pretend they are not there. (I call them the connections. That's pretty much what you are to each other.).
Surprisingly you can't go with a good solid MSN list without a combo of each of these. You can't have all instigators or you'll be bogged down with messages all the time. You can't have all receivers because then no one will ever message you. And you need connections because well.. it's good to have them without having to talk to them all the time.
Now... someone might be a instigator on your list and a receiver on someone elses list. etc. (And people change. Left overs become instigators and instigators become left overs...). But what do you want to be?
Looking for jobs?
I'm sure most of you haven't really started looking yet. Unless you've graduated that is. However, most hiring for summer jobs do start in January so people should start on it. Of course most people I know have ended up lifeguarding, at wonderland, or some retail job. Finding jobs is tough work. And we all love to dream of some cushy high paying job falling on our lap. Barring those with wicked connections we're pretty much stuck fending for ourselves.
So how does one get out of this rut? What's the easy answer?
Well I'm just going to throw out my opinions:
1. I've editted a lot of resumes in my time. And I'd like to say a lot of them have left plenty to be desired. As much fun as filling up a resume with how many years of piano you've played it's not that helpful in getting a job in an office. The key, is getting it editted like 5 times by different friends and putting stuff on it that matters and bolding it with super font.
2. Don't be lazy. Send out as many applications as you can to anything that resembles something interesting. Sort it out later when you get interviews. If you don't have a lot of experience shot gun approach is your best bet.
3. Just because you don't have connections doesn't mean you can't make them. Go out to events, and introduce yourself, keep in contact with old employers. If you're not outgoing like that, then don't complain you don't have any connections.
4. If you don't have skills. Go get some. Study programming, or word, or access, or other things in your spare time. Take on extra curric roles that will help you out. Like the treasurer, or lead a cell group and pick up some organizing/leadership skills.
5. Diversify your knowledge breadth. Read the newspaper, go get some hobbies. Even if you hate sports, know something about it. If you don't like movies. Know why you don't like them. In interviews you have two choices. 1. Talk about what you have to offer. 2. Small talk. If you don't have a lot of number 1... it's time to stalk up on number 2.
Good luck.
PS. I'm starting my job search for post grad as well! So see you on the battlefield.
PSS. FINALLY, they are fixing Steeles West. Worst maintained road in Toronto 5 years in a row. So many holes people would go out of their way to avoid the road. Praise God!
Heh this is a term my friend Sharon came up with. However, it's fun... what you do is piece together people's memories through..
1. Blogs
2 Videos
3. Conversations with other people.
4. Imagestation pictures.
The trick here is to not remember details, but think of how everyone was acting and feeling. Then when they start talking about the memory you pipe in talking about how it was. They get all confused and think you were there. Mission accomplished. Memory stolen!
You might get caught once in a while. But if you do it with enough people with the same memory, soon you'll have all the kinks worked out. Yes, on one hand it's cheating, by trying to spend time with people without actually spending time with them... but making them think they did. But hey, everyone wins..
News
Hmmm the world is going all crazy. Hurricanes, earthquakes, riots in France, tornadoes... I don't recall it being this bad before. Are these signs for things to come?
Resume
What's in a resume than jobs. And when I look back and think at all the jobs I've held in the past well...
Hospital Porter:
Basically volunteered in the hospital to transport stuff. urine, and blood are the biggest customers, but if I'm lucky I get to transport a person in a wheelchair who throws up easily... so every little bump is a potential adventure.
Newspaper boy:
Each flyer is a quarter of a cent. Takes 1 hour to deliver but they get you because you have to put the papers together which takes you 3 hours. Samples are the perk of that job. You get to keep extras. Yummm guava juice.
Camp Counsellor:
3 days and I'm sick. Kids are like walking virus bombs. Someone should quarantine them.
Math teaching Assistant:
Volunteered to TA kids in grade 9 math. I'm telling you, some kids see numbers and freak out. Calm down and actually read the question before asking me to slip you answers on tests.
Car Counter:
Drive out to an intersection and count cars for 6 hours. Mark down how many turn right, turn left, go straight, and how many are trucks. (8 wheels or more). Hahah so freaken hard. All the cars go at once and you have to watch two ways. At any rate, the key to success is estimation.
Boot straightener:
My very first paying gig. 50 cents a day to straighten boots in the hall during the winter in elementary school. The satisfaction is to walk in a chaotic boot mess and come out making the hall look like a shoe store. And 50 cents buys you two bags of popcorn afterschool.
And the list goes on. So.. I'm looking for a full time job? Anyone need these skills?
