The royal hat fascination | Washington Times Communities

The royal hat fascination Washington Times Communities

Transition and loosies

There was a great story in the Sunday Times about loosies (loose cigarettes sold individually instead of purchasing an entire pack—which is increasingly becoming cost-prohibitive—at bodegas, etc.). Says it’s a growing business, that not just people on or near the poverty line are buying loosies these days. This guy in NYC has been selling them for years and makes a LOT of money doing so. Now he’s got two or three other guys working for him selling loosies in subway stations at more affluent stops (yet another sign of the shrinking middle-class?). I don’t know why I bring this up. I guess my ear is attuned to listen to anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit these days. Being a state employee these days means you must have a contingency plan ready to go if/for when you're laid off.

I’m having fun writing an article on how there’s a new Easter trend for adults of hiding little liquor bottles instead of eggs. I further elaborated on the “why” by tying it in with the wild success of boozed-up milkshakes  and fancy mac and cheese at trendy restaurants, our willingness to stand in long lines for $7 cupcakes, adult-themed ice cream trucks (used The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck in NYC as an example), and the 18 and over dodgeball and kickball leagues across the country. The project will be decorating the bottles before you hide them.

Started putting together my state employee contingency plan. It includes pitchingReadymade, Martha Stewart, and Houston Press. Then I realized I'm not alone in this feeling of employee impernamence. The entire country is sort of precariously perched for employment. None of us feels as if we have true job security. Therefore I should write an article on it. Since I am putting together an “in case of job loss, break glass” kit, I wanna work that as the project. The kit is meant to contain your realistic contingency plan, an updated version of your resume, and a letter to your future, unemployed self that offers words of encouragement and explains to you why this can be a good thing. I’m interested in seeing how readers will react to it. It’s meant to be a coping tool to help everyone out. As long as I don’t sound glib about it, it should be okay.