Oh, why not?

Always a contrarian, I suppose, I have never really followed the employment pattern of my generation. This was a time-honored understanding that a body would stick to what he or she had chosen as a job of work because, well, that is what responsible adults were meant to do.

What this meant was to get the credentials for a particular profession or calling and then sticking to that choice right until the day the pension kicks in and then retiring to the golf course in summer and Arizona or Florida in the winter. That was unless a massive coronary didn’t strike at age 55 because the person was so stressed by doing a job he or she hated, and had hated for years.

I haven’t followed that pattern. This doesn’t mean I’m an irresponsible layabout or slacker. Au contraire. I have worked diligently all my life. But, like my marriages, I haven’t stuck with one specific model but have checked the scene out a little more extensively. I’m actually being flippant about the marriage(s) thing. I have been happily married to the same person for nine years and am as schoolboyishly delighted with the relationship now as I was in the beginning.

But, in terms of callings in life, my problem has always been that there was such an array of things out there to do that I wanted to try my hand at as many as I could. I never really aspired to rise to the top of that greasy pole, for life is too short, but I pride myself in the knowledge that I have always tried to be the best I could be in what I have done. I like to think that any promotions or accolades I’ve received have been by dint of whatever talents I might possess.

So, in this life I have been a millhand, a high school teacher, a newspaper reporter, columnist and editor, an addictions counsellor, a rehab administrator, a freelance writer in a number of genres and I’m only not mentioning babysitter and mower of lawns because that goes back just a little too far.

So, that being said, on Monday I’m going back addictions counseling again. The offer was made to me by a local job-search business that had realized a big impediment to gainful employment for many of their clients stemmed from a substance abuse factor. In other words, if you are a two-quart-a-day man, or gooned on crack on a regular basis, then maybe we don’t want you driving a truck for us.

Anyway, they approached me about the matter. What happened was I gave the business a workshop a couple of years ago in which I pointed out the telltale signs indicating drug abuse might be a factor in their clientele.

Then, a few months ago they asked if I would be willing to do some one-on-one on strictly a contract basis and fitting it in with my own schedule. I thought about if for a while, and then concluded, why not? It would be a few extra bucks and also allow me to get my hand back into a field I hadn’t been involved with actively since 2002.

So, I already have two clients lined up for Monday, I am to meet with each one of them for an hour. The clients are meeting with me via their own request, so hopefully they’re open to doing a bit of self-work.

This little venture ties in with the report on homelessness that I just completed. Their primary finding (and the same applies to homelessness surveys carried out in other cities in Canada and the US) is that up to 80% of those without adequate shelter are drug addicted and/or mentally ill.

So, I guess I can do my little bit to lend a hand. I’ll let you know how it goes.