the blood suckers

Since I’m looking for a job right now, I took my laptop one day last week to the CC’s at Royal and St. Philip to get a little work done. Sitting near me was a man who appeared to be trying to get some work done himself, so I struck up a conversation with him.

That conversation led to a much more lengthy one out of his home, where he works. Nothing too unusual about that. The conversation ended with a job offer that, frankly, was too good to be true. I went home to think it over and discuss it with my husband, and the more I thought about it, the less real the job seemed.

There were some shady things about this man and his associates, the most interesting of which included vampire role play and leading his wife around Bourbon Street on a leash. But although these things sound spectacular, they’re really not all that unusual in the French Quarter. The more important red flags I got about this man were, naturally, about money. He claimed to have millions, but I paid for the pizza for our lunch. ~and he knew i was unemployed~ There were other things as well.

So I asked around about him, and got negative reports about his reputation. I went to him with these observations, in an attempt to be fair and give him a chance to explain himself. ~and half hoping he would be able to, since the job was so attractive~

Instead, he lost it and started yelling. ~he called me a quarter rat, which is hilarious because i’m extremely normal, especially for the quarter~ So I’m glad I found out sooner than later. I don’t know what the man had to gain from me, but I didn’t want to stick around and find out.

Maybe I should have known this guy was full of it from the start, but I’m finding that there are just as many vampires, bullshit artists and freaks out on the “legitimate” job search sites. I’ve had more spam emails in response to resumes I’ve sent out than I care to count. I’ve been asked to download files to my computer and install them as a “test” of my computer skills, fill out online offers, and even wire money from my bank account. And I’m not just talking craigslist here, but careerbuilder too.

There’s not as much difference as one might think between the vampires in the Quarter and the online bloodsuckers, it turns out. ~which is why i’m glad i found worknola.com, which has more quality listings from real local businesses, vetted by real local people~