Istroongly believe luck is there, and you can grab it if you want, but for that you have the “inspiration” to make the right arbitrary choices. That is what lucky people are in my opinion. For instance in your case, you didn’t apply to all the jobs available, and didn’t go to all the interviews: that would be rather hard to do. So the fact to you applied for that job, and went to that interview it is just luck. Yes , the fact that you got the job and you succeded in it it is your work, but the initial step was an act of luck. you might have overlooked the firm for various reasons or not go to the interview because something happened , or got to late because of a traffic jam and thus lost the job. This is luck. To succes the start is usually pure luck, and the rest (keeping it) is usually work! Sometimes though no matter how much you work you just can keep it. This is luck again! So don’t say there is no luck. To be no luck you should know all the possible outcomes of your arbitrary actions. That is so far impossible….

Nothing wrong with that, but it’s not going to get you a lot of sympathy points either.

So any “solution” for me would have to involve doing something else. And I don’t see others similarly situated getting management-track positions at 50+.

Yes, I have flipped burgers. That, along with tutoring college math, working at a local computer store, and tutoring high school math paid for my undergrad tuition.

You woe is me act is old. I was offered store manager within a year of starting at BK, and BK corporate offered to pay all my tuition if I would accept a regional assistant manager job with corporate after school.

Hillary –

I did not sidestep your criticism, I said that if you wanted to give money to homeless shelters, go right ahead. I just don’t like hearing how it’s my responsibility to “help the less fortunate” or other rubbish like that. I choose to keep my money, as I believe a vast majority of the “homeless” could obtain gainful employment if there weren’t so many enablers giving them handouts.

I worked on 8 Mile. Yeah, THAT 8 Mile. With thousands of office workers within blocks, who would slam us every weekday at lunchtime.

I used to do the opening stuff, including scrubbing the grills which had soaked overnight in an acid tank. Then I’d do the setup and get everything going. Then we’d get slammed. When I got home I was soaked.

A few times I got some extra hours staying until some late evening shift employee straggled in. Now that shift was a joke. There was NO dinner rush because everyone who works in or near Detroit scrambles home – nobody stays around if they can help it. And there was a lot of employee scamming in the evening. So I guess in the “right” place and time you can flip hamburgers without working hard, but in most cases it’s hard work.

You

Luck means nothing, hard work means everything. If you don

Two-thirds of graduating students were leaving the state to find jobs because the area economy was so bad.

The emerging PC soon rendered my mainframe skills obsolete, or at least unsaleable – there were far more experienced mainframers than the shrinking number of available job openings.

As if my lack of skills weren’t bad enough, now my age and job stsgnation surely must be powerful obstacles to advancement.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone defend Scrooge, but whatever. I need to stop reading this blog, it puts me in a bad mood. Have a great Christmas, but that’s probably not possible because it involves giving to others and engaging in other altruistic activities.