Warning: contains high concentrations of negativity.

This month has been a bit on the rough side, as I'm sure it has for everyone. What with all these huge companies laying off thousands of people, the banks going under, and the housing market being so bad its making me grateful that I've spent the last few years as a feckless slacker with no goals.

As most of of my friends know, I've been nursing a growing hatred for the industry I am currently trapped in. And I do mean trapped - my plan was to wait tables for a few months after college to get my student loan payments going, and now here it is four years later and I'm still doing the iced tea boogie for less hours a week than I need. And I really have no one to blame for it but myself - if I'd been a little more proactive these last few years I might have a job I wasn't embarrassed to admit to now. Anyways. Its not easy, let me tell you, to get out of the service industry into something else. I think of it like being trapped under a frozen lake with nothing but a plastic spoon to help you crack your way out. And the current job market is definitely not helping, since there are now lots of unemployed people who probably have lots more marketable skills than I do.

But then, I really can't complain since I actually do have a job, as deplorable as I might find it. I guess another reason I'm feeling sorry for myself is its January. This is pretty much the worst time of year to be a server - everyone's gotten their post-Christmas credit card bills, had their requisite heart attacks, and vowed never to go shopping again. Which is bad for me, since I work right in the middle of a retail district. Nothing brings a person down more than counting their tips for the week and realizing how close to poverty they really are.

Of course, things aren't really all that bad for me. Its just every once in a while I have to spew out all the vitriol that's built up so I can appreciate all the good things I have going on. For instance, I have a great boyfriend and all is pretty much well on the cohabitation front. We had a good Christmas, if it was somewhat snowed in, and its nice to be able to spend a little more time together now that there's no commute between apartments.