Well I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend filled with ham and Easter egg hunting. I am writing again to let you know how things have been going for me over the past couple weeks.

As you know I am back at The Robert J. Delonis Center. I have mixed emotions about being back there but I feel that with the help of my job developer from Washtenaw Intergenerational Supportive Housing Project, I can soon look forward landing a job and getting out of there and into my own place.

Recently, I’ve run into a funny thing about some of the jobs I have applied for with some major companies.

One day I was working on an online application and at the end it asked me to fill out a questionnaire. Then I received an e-mail confirming my application that said: “Dear Thomas, Thank you for your interest in employment opportunities with (company name withheld). Your request for consideration for the following position(s) has been received: Cashier. A Candidate Reference Number has been created for you and may be useful to keep for your records. Your qualifications will be reviewed. If you are selected for an interview, or if further information is needed, you will be contacted.”

About an hour later I got an another e-mail from the company that said: “Thank you for your interest in the position of Cashier. We sincerely appreciate your interest in career opportunities with (company name withheld). Regretfully, we have decided to pursue other candidates at this time.”

I was thinking to myself, how could they make a decision so fast?

To find out, I called the store and talked to a manager. The manager told that they base such responses on how the applicant answers the questionnaire at the end of the application. This frustrated me. I know we are in the age of technology, but come on, we are human beings and in my opinion, there is nothing that can take the place of talking to someone one-on-one to know what that person is capable of and what his personality and experience are like.

So I’m still pounding the pavement of looking for a job and with summer coming up and college ending soon, I really want to line a job up soon so I can get into my own place. I have even started contacting apartment complexes, since I use to work with complexes before. Maybe kill two birds with one stone, get a job and an apartment at the same time.

I didn’t have any Easter plans this year, so if anyone has any left over ham, swing it by the Delonis Center. Just kidding, Until next time, enjoy the weather and yourself.

Thomas Bare writes about being homeless in Washtenaw County. Contact him at tab72266@yahoo.com.