Unemployement Day Five - "Anyone Want to Buy a Rock"

My Mom likes to tell the story about me as a kid, at the town baseball park, trying to sell rocks to my Dad’s friends. Apparently I found some good looking rocks and figured I could do some trading for a Mr. Pibb, Big League Chew, or my personal ball-park favorite, banana Laffy Taffy. If you’ve never tried banana Laffy Taffy, gently put down the Jake D Werm Unemployment Blog. Set it in a safe place, where you’ll remember to find it and go out to get some banana Laffy Taffy immediately.

The lesson of the banana Laffy Taffy is not to be underestimated. It’s simple. That's it. That’s the lesson. Simplicity. I had no idea at the time, but watching baseball under the mosquito-hazed lights of that small-town park as a kid, eating my weight in Laffy Taffy, taught me that simple works. It works because banana Laffy Taffy does not try to be anything it’s not. Strawberry? Pretty good, but it lacks body. Lime? Not bad, but it’s got no staying power. Grape? Please.

Banana Laffy Taffy is it’s own simple thing; the perfect flavor, at the perfect consistency, lasting the duration of the Taff. Hubba Bubba could only hope to play in the same park as the champion. And, to illustrate my point a step further, I need to point out that I’m referring to the original Laffy Taffy, here. Square. Perfect symmetry. None of this thin rectangular stuff that came along later. Ok, moving on.

Where am I going with this? I’m not exactly sure, but I think the chewed Taffies of my youth might be trying to tell me something about this overly complex job-seeking, mortgage-paying, 401(k) investing, equity building world in which we live. Simple might just work, here and now, to help find some income.

Now, I need to be very clear. In no way do I think that “keeping it simple” should be an excuse to label me as a simpleton. Wait to make that judgment in person. Simple doesn’t have to be less creative, even in today’s cloud computing world (which I love, by the way). Simple can be more creative. Certainly more gutsy. Often, it’s more powerful. Does “Just Do It” fit? Or “Rock the Vote”? I think so.

What does this mean? I’m going to create a very lean, simple version of my resume. I’m going to redesign my portfolio to be as simple as possible. It may not work as well as I’m hoping. But, who knows, maybe they’ll both be more powerful that way.

Oh, and did I mention that inside every exquisite Laffy Taffy there are perfectly awful jokes to read?
I’m hungry for a little banana Laffy Taffy. Anyone want to buy a rock?