Temping trauma

Desperate to leave my current job because of the extreme insanity of my boss, CV in hand, I bravely climb the stairs of a temping agency. I enter a large room crowded with desks. None of the desks seem to be reception desks, so I gingerly approach a blonde woman sitting at a desk.

"Hello," I say in what I hope is a cheerful tone,"I wonder if you can help me. I am looking for a job, perhaps a secretarial or administration role. Do you have anything like that on your books at the moment?" I hand her my CV and she scans it.

"Well," she says, "We don't really have much around at the moment. There are a few secretarial vacancies but you're not a qualified secretary so that wouldn't really work."

I sense that now is the moment that I should leave, but she continues.

"But what you should do if you're looking for a job is to go through the local paper. Look at the jobs and if you see one and think 'I could do that' then look at your skills and see if they match the job and if not think about getting some training or maybe you could even apply."

She misinterprets my look of utter despair.

"I know it's hard changing careers. I did it myself. I used to be a teacher but I changed and became a recruitment consultant and now my life is so much better."

She smiles sweetly.

"Well," I say, heroically managing not to sound sarcastic,"Thanks for your time and for your wise words. Goodbye."

She gives me a cheerful thumbs up. I escape into the street. I wonder, not for the first time, whether I am mad or whether the world is mad.