Thursday, March 5, 2009

The Curious Case of a Suburban Dog Pauper

Inspired by the Oscars I thought about life here on Long Island:


I never really thought I would be incredibly wealthy but I had always hoped to end up at least comfortable.

I came from Queens (the county) and grew up in an apartment building complex. For the most part I did what I was told when I was young. I drank my milk and cleaned the table after meals. I did well in school following the rules and receiving many perfect attendance commendations. I graduated college in a reasonable amount of time and went looking for my reward in the time of Nixon’s Presidency.

Unfortunately my timing was off. You see I went to school to become an electrical engineer but so did thousands before me. And as I entered my senior year I found there was a frosty outlook for jobs in the field. It was a dark night as I wrestled with alternatives but I finally dropped my major opting instead for a regular BS degree. That stands for Bachelor of Science and not any other more obvious name.

With no apparent direction my parents directed me into textiles. Since my dad was in the field I figured I must have learned something about it through osmosis. Actually all I knew about the subject was it had something to do with fabrics. And at this point it was a job I wanted.

I immediately started to learn and realized that there were a number of beautiful young ladies in the field. I even dated one who worked at Cotton Incorporated for a short period of time. The world of fashion did have its perks!

While my career was now in textiles I was a voracious reader and what I really longed to be was to be a writer or even a stand-up comic. But my pressing desire and love of the written word was subjugated by an even more pressing desire and love, that of eating regular meals! So I stayed in the world of schmata or as we in the fashion end of the business like to call it Shma-Tey!

And after many years of hard work using unique skills only a handful of millions other than me possess I rose up to the post of President of the Home Fashion Products Association, a leading industry group. I held the position for nearly five years.

Those were good times but unfortunately they were the high points of the story as our economy has slipped and the once great dreams of many are now current nightmares.

We were one or two questions away from the grand prize when the buzzer rang and game ended. It was a nice ride but I just missed that brass ring. I wish to be young again and start over but I doubt that will happen.

I guess this suburban dog is still hoping for a crack at a Hollywood ending.

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