Experience Required

I have several incredibly smart and talented friends who are having trouble finding employment in California.  I had similar issues when I was there (which is how I ended up in Anchorage).  Everyone seems to be running into the same problem: each firm with a job vacancy states that it requires 2-5 years of experience.  How is anyone supposed to get experience if firms are only hiring people with experience?  You have to have experience to get experience.

When I lived in Virginia, it snowed sometimes.  Not Alaska-caliber snow... but still white, frosty, and scary to drive in.  When it was snowing and I had to go to work/school/more-than-two-blocks-from-my-apartment, my friend Paul always came to the rescue and chauffeured me around.  I'm a nervous driver under perfect conditions (yes, I'm perpetuating the stereotype and don't care), and the snow doesn't help.

The colleague for whom I am house-sitting has kindly allowed to me borrow her car. Yesterday, even though there were flurries, I decided to drive to work instead of taking the bus.  I was so proud of myself. (Even though I got all the way downtown before realizing I have no idea where people in our office park.  Different story though.) It was a little scary, but I made it!  Once I got to the office, however, the flakes really started coming down...

By the time I was able to leave work, 7 inches had already fallen.  The air around me was literally white.  I looked out my window periodically to notice the streets becoming less and less visible. Reluctantly, nervously, I decided to take the bus back to the house instead of driving.  After I had looked up the route and figured out my schedule, I took a moment to look out my office window and enjoy the beauty of winter.

But instead, I couldn't help but notice how many cars were rolling through the snowy streets.  So many cars... yes, some trucks and SUVs and Subarus, but some tiny cars too!  Some of them even driven by Asian women, I bet!  The longer I watched them the more frustrated I became. Why could they do this simple task when I was so afraid?  I reasoned to myself that it must be because they have all grown up in Alaska... they have years and years of winter driving experience.

But how do you get experience if you keep waiting until you have experience? If I'm going to live in Alaska, I can't be stranded and call for help every time a snowflake falls.  If Alaskans for years have driven through the snow, why can't I?  There is no way they are all smarter or stronger or braver than I am.  Sarah Palin lives here for goodness' sake.
So I waded through the snow and dug through a giant snowball to find the car.
It wasn't the right car.
I dug through another snowball to find the car.
Then I scraped ice and swept snow and defrosted windows.
Then slowly -- maybe obnoxiously  slowly -- I drove home.

I know this may sound like a small victory to people who aren't afraid of driving in bad weather.
And maybe it took me thrice as long to get home as it should have.  But it was the beginning of my experience.
And I'll be damned if these Alaskans can do a single thing I can't.