Denver is really the first big town I have been to on this trip. I really underestimated the size of Denver. It’s a lot bigger than where I come from in Sacramento.
First order of business, I had a couple of tv stations I needed to hit up for the day. Channel 9 had a position open as did 31. When I got to channel 9 the receptionist told me who to contact but she thinks it was filled the day before. Not to worry, I am all dressed up in my finest duds so I went across to town to the other station where I didn’t get to talk to a receptionist, just a little box outside. To some snobby dude who couldn’t even see how snappy my duds were. He told me to send the resume in the e-mail or by e-mail. Needless to say I was a bit discouraged, but that’s ok. The biggest part of my day was yet to come. I had a person who works for clear channel in Denver who committed to meeting with me and sharing some advice and network. When I got to Clear Channel, they had without question the most massive broadcast building I had ever seen. This is my first time at a clear channel and now I can visually see why they are the corporate monster of radio. I felt really lucky to have an interview in that building, even if it wasn’t for a job. Most of Clear Channel is on a hiring freeze. When I got there the receptionist told me that today was a bad day. I told him that it was my only day in town and we had an appointment. But the receptionist informed me that there was a huge lay-off spree that just happened that morning, and the person I was going to see was one of the men cut off.
I really couldn’t believe my luck this day. I left frustrated and began having those questions of what will I do if I never catch a break. But I am only on day 7, and I am not a quitter. This was just bad luck.
I tried some panhandling while I was in Downtown this time. I wasn’t as successful as I would have hoped. I am pretty sure I looked much more well off than the other panhandlers and I wasn’t homeless, (at least not by choice). Still, I made enough money to put me back on budget. It looks like my hope for staying out on the road for longer than 40 days may be diminishing, but we will see.
To cap off the night, I went to the swing dance that my host told me about, at a place called the Mercury café. They were honoring the death of the legendary King of Swing dance, Frankie Manning from the movie Hellzapoppin. I was dancing with some real good ole swing dancers. And I was actually holding my own and having fun, if you could believe that. My favorite dancer was an old woman in her late 70’s named Esther, who was just as spry as I am. She was dancing Lindy Hop since Lindy Hop was Hip Hop. She taught me some great tricks. She also told me, “Loosen up. Let go of your inhibitions. You dance like your afraid someone will see you having fun. Fear, stands in the way of you having success in dancing. You will be able to do wonders once you just let go of what ever it is that holds you back.” I thought she was another angel sent to me to tell me exactly what I needed to hear. I couldn’t believe I just had that encounter. I looked at her like she was a female Socrates and thanked her for the experience.
The day was rough, and discouraging, but had a great finish, today was a good day.
scripture:TBD
First order of business, I had a couple of tv stations I needed to hit up for the day. Channel 9 had a position open as did 31. When I got to channel 9 the receptionist told me who to contact but she thinks it was filled the day before. Not to worry, I am all dressed up in my finest duds so I went across to town to the other station where I didn’t get to talk to a receptionist, just a little box outside. To some snobby dude who couldn’t even see how snappy my duds were. He told me to send the resume in the e-mail or by e-mail. Needless to say I was a bit discouraged, but that’s ok. The biggest part of my day was yet to come. I had a person who works for clear channel in Denver who committed to meeting with me and sharing some advice and network. When I got to Clear Channel, they had without question the most massive broadcast building I had ever seen. This is my first time at a clear channel and now I can visually see why they are the corporate monster of radio. I felt really lucky to have an interview in that building, even if it wasn’t for a job. Most of Clear Channel is on a hiring freeze. When I got there the receptionist told me that today was a bad day. I told him that it was my only day in town and we had an appointment. But the receptionist informed me that there was a huge lay-off spree that just happened that morning, and the person I was going to see was one of the men cut off.
I really couldn’t believe my luck this day. I left frustrated and began having those questions of what will I do if I never catch a break. But I am only on day 7, and I am not a quitter. This was just bad luck.
I tried some panhandling while I was in Downtown this time. I wasn’t as successful as I would have hoped. I am pretty sure I looked much more well off than the other panhandlers and I wasn’t homeless, (at least not by choice). Still, I made enough money to put me back on budget. It looks like my hope for staying out on the road for longer than 40 days may be diminishing, but we will see.
To cap off the night, I went to the swing dance that my host told me about, at a place called the Mercury café. They were honoring the death of the legendary King of Swing dance, Frankie Manning from the movie Hellzapoppin. I was dancing with some real good ole swing dancers. And I was actually holding my own and having fun, if you could believe that. My favorite dancer was an old woman in her late 70’s named Esther, who was just as spry as I am. She was dancing Lindy Hop since Lindy Hop was Hip Hop. She taught me some great tricks. She also told me, “Loosen up. Let go of your inhibitions. You dance like your afraid someone will see you having fun. Fear, stands in the way of you having success in dancing. You will be able to do wonders once you just let go of what ever it is that holds you back.” I thought she was another angel sent to me to tell me exactly what I needed to hear. I couldn’t believe I just had that encounter. I looked at her like she was a female Socrates and thanked her for the experience.
The day was rough, and discouraging, but had a great finish, today was a good day.
scripture:TBD
There is nothing like swing dancing to lift the spirits!! Esther sounds like the woman I hope to be when I'm that age...
ReplyDeleteKeep on keeping on!