It's one thing to have a company caroffered because your work involves driving. It's quite another todemand a car, drivers license and clean DMV printout when I'm workingat a housekeeper at a mom and pop hotel. I will never be using thecar for that work, and my driving record and what it contains areirrelevant to the job. Or the other job I recently applid for,bartending. I work at a bar, I mix drinks, I cut drunk patrons off, Iclean up, I deal with noise and hopefuly get some tips. I do not needto drive anywhere for the jobs I'm applying for lately. So why isthat relevant? I am asked for a credit check, a background check, asif those things were relevant to what sort of person I am, (Hey, ifyou ask me, I'll tell you honestly why I don't have those things andthen you can learn what sort of person I am) and how good I am at myjob. I do have a useless engineering degree from 2004. Yep. Bachelorof Science from the University of Hawaii. I've never had anengineering job and now... I don't know if I could even do it. Icould never get a job as an engineer and TBH, I didn't want to get anengineering degree anyway. I didn't want to study science. I wantedto study photography/painting and go for my BFA. That was what Iwanted to do, and was going to minor in creative writing andJapanese.


But no, I stupidly listened to friendsand relatives, “What are you going to do with a BFA? What sort ofjob will you be able to have? What sort of future?” How about onewhere I am happy and my creative talents aren't being wasted? Where Ispent time honing my art and photography skills and was maybe the artdirector of a television show? Just because I majored in paintingdoesn't mean i'm only a painter. Or perhaps I became a tattoo artistinstead? Another careerer where you don't think being a good artistapplies. Plus, being a tattoo artist would allow me to combine artand health & safety, two of my favourite things. But now, it'stoo late for me to go back to school, state schools have slashedbudgets and denied admissions, and as a second bachelor's student, Iwouldn't get any financial aid. So now I'm stuck, homeless, riding mybike everywhere, finding clothes in dumpsters, living with friendsand wondering where the hell the american dream went and if I wasasleep enough to believe it. Now I've woken up, so what now?