Okay, nothing good ever comes easy. I know that what I was
doing for a buck, shilling information in the public sector, was going to haunt
me. I never thought, though, that being well paid professional with a degree
would be such an impediment to this quest of mine. All I want to do is be part
of this “green rush” I keep reading about. The biggest complication? So do a few
other million or more people.
Cannabis is popular here in Colorado. It’s generating an
incredible amount of sales, a butt load of tax revenues, a wealth of innovation
and a fantastic boost to the warehouse rental market in Denver and Pueblo. But
it is also bringing in a ton of folks from just about everywhere, folks with
incredible dossiers full of marijuana growing and selling experience, folks who
have worked dispensaries and the only thing holding them back from jumping into
the industry is Colorado state ID.
Well, I have that ID. I have 25 years of professional service. I have forty years of transport, warehouse, data entry and customer service under my belt. I know about my strains, read the marijuana trade papers daily, keep up with the news, tour the state to see what is happening in other regional dispensaries and do my best to make sure that I am presentable and ready to interview at a moment’s notice. And, let it be known, I make sure that I read my Indeed feed every morning to see what kinds of cannabis work is out there in this lovely state of CO. I know how hard it is to get in. Everyone tells me so. I now can say that I have been there.
Well, it’s been interesting, that’s for sure, all this
genuflecting before the altar of the mota job. I have had two interviews. I did
get one good bite. I have gotten nods of approval for wanting to join in from
budtenders that I have gotten to know. And I have even been given a chance to
write about this cool stuff with an online site. Let me tell you all about it:
My favorite moment in this slog has been my interview with
Connor. Right away I absolutely loved his sincerity and forthrightness. I
applied to be his Director of Education for a start-up he was working on. We
were to go around to fairs and festivals and, with the aid of a tent and able
bodied assistants, were going to educate folks about the science, health and
culture of cannabis. He was charged up, all right. He had been looking for
cash, working the cannabis trade shows, building cred with venture capitalists,
all that. We met at work site that sponsored folks who just needed a place to work in. For us it was a lobby space, folks passing by wondering what the hell we were all about .
It was a great, intense two hours, sitting face to face, talking
the good talk about marijuana, it’s history and its benefits. When it came down
to particulars, like pay, like benefits, well, that’s when the floor fell out
from underneath me. The pay would possible come the latter part of summer.
Benefits, well, who can talk benefits when you have just have funds enough on hand to operate maybe two more weeks? Thanks, Connor, all the same. It sounded great to be considered to join
in with your merry band of marijuana educators, but I really wanted some cash
flow to go along with that cloud of cannabis smoke we were blowing around there
for a bit.
Then there was the interview I had for the number one rated dispensary
in the state. Thank you, Infinite Wellness, for making that interview opportunity seem like the best
lead I had been given in a long time. It came out of the blue. I dropped off an unsolicited resume and
cover letter on the Friday before a holiday weekend and two days later I was given a call by the operations manager. “Would you like to come in a talk about this two day a week position we have open?” Goodness, sure, a foot
in the door! Certainly!
Well, the interview went well, so much so that I had a
second one lined up at the end of the week. That was where the fun stopped and
the interview process went weird. It went from a handshake with the security chief to
working behind the desk for two hours, checking id’s at one of the busiest
dispensaries in town. No training, just a jump in there and do it. Well, later on
I was told it was just an “audition”, whatever in the hell that meant. I was told when
I left that they would review the tapes of the experience I just had. Seven
cameras worth of video feed tells a lot about a guy, his nervousness and the
importance of doing the job right. Put the fear of god in me knowing that if I
fucked up they could shut the place down. No pressure, none at all.
Lately there was the cannabis courier job that seemed like a good thing
on paper but I couldn’t find anything about the company online. Got an email late Sunday night to
see if I was interested, and hey, by the way, could you tell what kind of
vehicle you drive? Well, apparently my wee little Fit was not what they were looking for.
Call us if you get a Suburban or an Escalade.
But I have not stopped looking. I drop off or submit at least one or
two apps a day to warehouse, driver or data jobs I see on Indeed. I dropped off an
app at my favorite little dispensary here in town but lost my cover letter in
weirdness of the library printer set up. No biggie. I am sure that an insider will
get that position, too.
I do feel a bit of the sexist thing going on here, though.
Some of the places I have applied to just want gals behind the counter. I never
equated budtending with bartending before, but there it is. Proximity to the university
might have a hand in that.
Oh, well. Now, let’s see if that online site likes my
writing enough to let me freelance with them. I made a cut-off of sorts,
submitted a writing sample last week. Would be nice to get that six cents a word thing,
see a check come in for something I love to do for free.
This Green Rush is a lot like the Gold Rush of old. An awful
lot of folks lost their shirts in that one. Put everything they had into getting across
the continent, grubbing a stake, panning the earth and then, after the last bean in
the pot went down the gullet, decided to pack it all up and go back home again.
Funny thing is I have two interviews next week with libraries. Is
my pursuit of a job in the cannabis trade at a wrap?
Naw, I just like to interview, apparently. Onward and
upward. There’s a mota job out there waiting for me somewhere. Or so I sez, sez I.
Salud!
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