Skip to main content

That's Classified

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/MWichary

I napped in my stuffy room at the Y after escaping the prostitute in Times Square. I woke with a start, confused, dry eyes darting around to process my location. The afternoon sun was lower outside. Right. I was at the YMCA. I had been a New Yorker for almost 24 hours.

I went out and bought the Sunday New York Times, thick as a brick, for the classified section and a $1 slice of pizza for dinner. I then spent the evening immersed in each section, reading for clues that could help turn me into a real New Yorker. I tore out the ads for the museums and movies I wanted to see. 

I gasped at a big headline on the front page:

"New York Telephone Talks Break Down; Strike Continues" 

So what did that mean for pay phones? Like the one down the hall, my main link to my job search? Did it stop working? I did not have time for this. I needed to make as many calls as I could the next few days. 

And there would be plenty to make. The front page of the classifieds was divided up by dozens of tiny ads from employment agencies:

PUBLISHING - Editorial assistant for global pub house. Phones, calendar. 16K

MUSIC - Admin assistant. Entry level at int'l label. Work for execs and talent. Typing. 17K

PR AGENCY - Entry level at busy consumer PR firm. Admin support. Writing skills a must. 17K

Those last two seemed right up my alley so I marked them with big stars. It was all like a menu of dream jobs to choose from. I would hunt down each opportunity until I scored my perfect job. 

The quest would begin the next day at PR agency Grant, Townsend, Frost and Osborne (GTFO). I had reached out earlier that summer about their internships which paid a stipend. They had called me back, telling me they liked my resume and to contact them when I moved to the city. Last week I did just that and scored my first in-person interview in New York.

My plan was to be a Trojan Horse: Get in. Dazzle them with my brilliance until they declared they couldn't live without me. Accept their full-time job offer.

Then I could find a roommate and finally start living my life in the city! 




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Van Halen vs. Tone-Loc

This week in 1989, Tone-Loc was blocked from the #1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 by Paula Abdul and her first hit song "Straight Up."  Sharp-eyed readers will note that this is the third mention of Abdul on this blog, something I never would have guessed when I launched this.  Anyway, Tone-Loc's "Wild Thing" rocketed into the hearts of music lovers around the world thanks to a classic hip hop move: Borrowing an element from something that was tired at the moment and re-inventing it for new audiences.   In this case, the song's guitar riff and drum roll were instantly identifiable from Van Halen's "Jamie's Cryin'" off their first album in 1978 (!) According to Wikipedia (the primary research resource here at "Little Brett, Big City"), the Van Halen management team allowed the sample to be included in "Wild Thing" for a flat fee of $5,000.  But apparently the band members hadn't heard anything about it. Drummer...
Post a Comment
Read more

l i t t l e b r e t t , BIG CITY

When I left college in 1989, I was a virgin with corn-fed drive and a terrifying secret. It could disappoint or disgust my family and friends. It could even kill me. But I couldn’t hide from it anymore.  With "The World's Heaviest Briefcase," I escaped on a midnight train from Lima, Ohio to the YMCA on West 34th Street in Manhattan. Being gay had to be easier in New York, even though I was arriving with no home or job.   Right away, a hooker chased me in Times Square, and perverts watched me shower at the Y. I filled payphones with quarters each day, desperately seeking work. Ultimately, I was confronted by my biggest fear when dating my first man – a member of AIDS activist group ACT UP.  Could I really survive in one of the hardest cities in the world? Or would I fail and return to Ohio, back in the closet to find a wife and a lawn to mow.   l i t t l e  b r e t t , BIG CITY celebrates finding your own place in the world. Here I...
6 comments
Read more

You Went To School At A Subway Stop?!

In 1989, I graduated from Bowling Green State University. Which is a mouthful. So when people in New York asked me where I went to school. I would just say "Bowling Green."  The first time, I got a quizzical look and a "Huh?" The second person finally asked, "You went to school at a subway station?" My turn to go "Huh?" I then learned that "Bowling Green" is indeed a station on the #4 and #5 lines on the NYC Subway system, way downtown in the Financial District. I'm including a pic of the Bowling Green "head house," which is the rare, above-ground part of a station that contains escalators, elevators, and ticket agents. (Thanks again, Wikipedia.) (Wikimedia Commons/DSchwen) This little beauty is a New York City-designated landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places. And I still haven't been there yet. 
Post a Comment
Read more