Would you accept an offer of a fulltime job that is 15 miles away, a 40-minute drive barring traffic (unrealistic), is retail and pays $8 an hour?
Would you do it in snowy icy road conditions?
Would you do it if no other job was offered and you HAD to take it even if it meant financial drain, deficit and loss? (meaning that expenses, pared to the bone, exceeded income).
These are the questions I pose to readers and that I have been pondering since yesterday’s call from a retailer inviting me to an interview today.
The interview itself is roughly 30 miles / 45-minute drive away, a pricey drive in time and gas for a low-wage job.
The job site, though elsewhere, is across the city too, on the perimeter of the Denver metro sprawl which, incidentally, continues to rapidly claim outlying land and space. Consequently, distances are not to be considered lightly where jobs are concerned, particularly those low in pay and long in commute.
Not to lump them together but coincidentally tomorrow’s event is as far, in another direction, and it has the potential to return rewards fruitful, purposeful and restorative.
Not to lump them together. Noting only the odd timing of apples and oranges colliding.
(For reasons unpublished) I am not enthused about $8 an hour. That’s speaking conservatively. Those who know me, my history and life paths and twisting courses will understand why I in fact bristle and recoil. The issues, of course, extend far beyond one simple (wage) number.
We went ahead and scheduled the interview for 1 p.m., Johnny and I, with the caveat that if, after I google-mapped it, the distance between my residence and job site was found too great, we’d cancel.
I’ve done the math.
There are jobs that one can’t afford to take … jobs rendered unreasonable or unfeasible on the costs of fuel, wear and tear, travel time, nature of the commute. There are jobs where all factors in the equation add up to a peanut.
And that’s precisely the word and image center stage in my consciousness.
And yet a part of me grapples with the situation and hesitates to cancel. What if this is the ONLY potential offer presented? Remember, I’ve been unemployed and looking my heart out for three years. Interview offers have been scant, capital S-C-A-N-T. My optimism was devastated, my hope robbed, my esteem shattered, my survival threatened and in danger. In my former location. Speaking of work-search caveats! Like Rome, positivity and recovery are not built in a day.
And from the higher dimensional perspective, does not Spirit desire to extend a vessel overfloweth with water to the weary thirsting men and women escaped from slavery crawling the desert floor and not a mere teaspoon?
By accepting impoverishment and poverty, are you indeed refusing or missing abundance or potential thereof?
Many contemplations yesterday and this morn … many more questions than the little trio presented to readers … and I’m sincerely interested in your answers for yourself.
Barefoot Blogger 
Sep 07, 2011 @ 14:29:31
It seems worth it to me IF the hours are there. If you are driving 1 1/2 hours to work 3, then the answer would be no. However, if you could set your schedule so that you worked, say, 10-12 hours per day, and only 3 or 4 days a week, it might be worth the drive. That’s the sort of thing you could assess at the interview. It’s certainly worth looking into, even at $8/hour. And one bonus, too, may be that once in a job working with fellow hourly employees on a tight budget, they may know of closer/better living arrangements you could make.
Best of luck to you! I hope it pans out.
Sep 07, 2011 @ 15:33:50
@lexiemom – The schedule would be regular and of the store’s making, not employee’s; 10-12 hours days are not an option. Two, working anything less than 40 hours a week @ $8/hr. is not sufficient. Three, it cannot be assumed that fellow employees are on a tight budget; for example, their expenses may be low to none, they may living at home for free, they may be getting rides or taking the bus to and from work (thus lowered transportation costs); there are too many variables and unknowns to make that assumption. Four, I secure housing independently by my own footwork, research and resources. Last but not least (!), this job was deemed undoable and the interview canceled. Thanks for sharing the choice you’d make. More power to ya if you can make ends meet and still fill the tank on roughly $230/week!
Sep 07, 2011 @ 14:30:44
By the way, if you’re interviewing for a job at Starbucks, I hear they are one of the few retailers with health & dental benefits! Just sayin…
Sep 07, 2011 @ 16:30:09
Goodness. I would accept the interview, perhaps accepting will allow the world to offer you other options.
I hope you are offered something closer.
Sep 07, 2011 @ 20:16:49
@cruise – Thanks for your input! “perhaps accepting will allow the world to offer you other options.” … Or it could go the other way; accepting a job offer could close the door on better, more fruitful and supportive opportunities. Additionally, settling for much less than one desires and aspires to can also depress and have the effect of better incoming opportunities. Just another perspective and food for thought.
Sep 07, 2011 @ 17:06:42
I wouldn’t take it, not as long as I can continue to make what I’m making from home, but I can understand the temptation. Something like that would be best viewed as interview practice, methinks; if you feel like you need or could use some, go for it, otherwise no.
Sep 07, 2011 @ 20:28:44
@Brandon – Thanks for playing! Interview practice, lol, well, of that I’ve had a lifetime’s fill — in terms of cheap labor/off-purpose/lame jobs/menial positions (take your pick). A career position, that’s another matter and in most circumstances is worth the time, travel, fuel cost and interview practice, IMHO. In the end, I opted out, in part because I felt the day could better spent preparing for tomorrow than investing two hours in travel and interviewing for a position returning hardship and depression. Moral: Follow the heart and keep the eye on the big sunny ball. 🙂
Sep 08, 2011 @ 15:30:51
Unfortunately, I’ve been in this situation myself. I don’t drive-I take the bus everywhere. Which would be even worse in bad weather. I have worked for people that just did not get that having to take the bus can have a lot of variables.
May 07, 2012 @ 08:18:51
Have faith in God and you will find the right (path)job. God will provide but you must first ask and believe, otherwise everything you do will be of no consequence. I hope you can see how dependent people are on a system that will continuously fail them, as it is a man-made system which only causes suffering. Clever devils that implemented the monetary system. I will pray for you and something positive should happen in a week or two if you are still unemployed.