#DearSanta
Beyond the normal things -- health for my wife and sons, love for us all, peace for men of good will -- this year I have a special list item for Santa Claus.
I want work.
Sure, I have work; I am a private consultant who writes proposals for USA Federal government contractors trying to do business with Washington. It is not the most exciting work, for sure, but it has kept me busy for many years. No one else wants to do it; no one can tolerate the arcane nature of writing proposals; and, of course, hardly anyone under the age of 45 can write a coherent sentence anymore, so there's not a lot of competition.
But I am 66, and not about to get hired into an actual job anymore, as I wrote a few years back (http://uberthoughtsusa.blogspot.com/2014/10/theres-snow-on-roof-but-were-still.html), so it is incumbent upon me to provide for my family through my consulting.
And at the moment, there are no clients. It is a time of the year when the absurd congressional budget process (yes, I wrote about that, too, here -- http://uberthoughtsusa.blogspot.com/2014/09/its-about-tomorrow-not-today.html) -- I've probably written about everything -- means that no requests are going out from Washington, so no proposals are being written and no one needs my help.
But that's only the dull, financial aspect of my request to Santa.
You see, work is personally and emotionally rewarding. I will not go into eventual retirement easily. I was raised into the Protestant work ethic, and I believe you are personally uplifted by your daily labors, no matter what they are. I am no longer able to do heavy lifting, or traveling, as I could throughout my career. But whatever I do for a living, I am nothing when I'm not working regularly. I'm less of a father, less of a husband and less of a man.
I write. It is what I do. I have long made up for my diminutive stature by cultivating the art of the written word as my living and to defend myself. And I need for Santa, in his inimitable way, to pop down my chimney, perhaps six weeks early or so, with a new client with an actual need for me, so I can continue to provide for my family.
So Santa, as the song goes, I need for you to hurry down my chimney tonight. Here is a picture of it, so you can actually be sure not to ask our neighbor to write a 40-page management plan.
As you can see, it's gas, so have no fear, and be careful with the glass on the front.
You need to get it right. Bring me, please, a new contract and a multi-week assignment. Just an email will work, I don't even need a contract in writing. Idle hands do not suit me.
I promise to be grateful, and I promise to be charitable. In fact, today I made a donation that will buy a new bicycle through a charity that provides Christmas-Day bikes to kids who can't afford them. OK, I probably would do that anyway, but I'm hedging my bets regardless.
What do you say, Santa? It won't even come out of your pocket.
Being a private consultant, or freelancer, is difficult. I did it (a freelancer) for about 10 years and you were either cash rich one month and hand-to-mouth the next.
Awesome that you donated a bicycle! So many kids have never even rode one or owned one. You are an angel paying it forward!
My wife saw a notice about that bike charity ("Bikes for Kids," or something like that) that is run in this broad area, and that our "very active senior" community had a volunteer collecting to help. They asked for people to donate a sum for all or part of a bike, and we wanted to have one for a poor child, happy that it would be completely anonymous. It is, as we often say in our household, "what you do."