"What do you do with a BA in Engli...NOTHING!"

I'll preface this update by saying that it will probably be plagued with the ignorance of my age/experience in the real world. I will probably say things that are over dramatic or just generalizations. Again, I'm not saying they are true for everyone, just from my personal experiences.

Also, there will be a lot of bitter cursing in this, so you've been warned.

So, here we go...It has been a month since I last updated, and within that month I have successful obtained and lost a job.

Not jobs, plural.

Job.

J.O.B.

Singular.

I, Christina, got motherfucking fired from my motherfucking job.

How do ya like them apples?

Let's travel back in time a bit, shall we? A month ago life was pretty fantastic. I just finished up my first gig doing a staged T.V. show reading in which I got to play Cher and a few minor characters in other sketches. It was neat because the group had their established ensemble and had a few extra actors come to fill in the other parts. I was one of the few new people to get my own sketch, which was pretty sweet. And I got to be Cher, black wig and all. So, all in all, it was a pretty successful first gig.

And, then one magically, awesome, random happenstance later, I nailed a pretty sweet job. They were willing to work with my schedule, I was working full time without crazy hours, it seemed great. A month goes by, and I'm still doing great. Auditioning, working, living the dream. Then, out of nowhere, my boss fires me for being "too professional" and "not friendly enough with the customers".

That's it.

I could go on for days how crazy and surreal it all ways and how I wish my ex-boss would just choke on a big bag of dicks, but that's not the point I wanted to make. Since I've moved to Chicago, I've realized that having a BA in Theatre is like waving around a picture frame with a pic of your Great Aunt Sue. Nobody gives a shit.

Now, I realize that a lot of factors go into the hiring process, especially in a big city. But, all of us theatre people have that one power point that goes through all the reasons why we could get hired for ANY type of job. Marketing? We have great communication skills! Sales? We can improvise in any situation! Customer Service? We deal with all kinds of people all the time!

Welp, in academia, it's a nice pillow that you can fall back on as you go to sleep before your big performance exam of Sartre's "No Exit" with shadow puppets and punk music. In big kid land? It's a potato sack of dead hamsters that get beaten against your head after every interview you go to.

Again, just my personal experience.

The job hunt is difficult. And I even have a long work history going all the way back to be freshmen years of college. With a variety of jobs that I've fricking frack fucking applied for here!!! It makes you want to pull your hair out.

But, at the end of the day, all I can do is jump into the search again and remind myself why I'm here. I came here to be an actor. Not a professional barista, not a professional waiter, and definitely not a professional candy maker. I've been doing the job I came here to do, and it sucks ass that I can't get paid for auditions or callbacks, because I would be banking. I guess that's the challenging part about the decision that I made (here's my Mr. Rogers moment). Maybe I'll find a better job that won't kill my soul? Maybe I'll get some sort of theatre job? Maybe I'll end up being homeless? Who knows?

I'm remember this day, this exact moment. If I ever get rich and famous and win a Tony, I'll make sure to mention my ex-boss and tell her she can go fuck herself. Amen.