...following on...

I should probably tell you a bit more about who I am.

Up until this July I was a student studying graphic design & advertising at Central St Martins, London. I graduated with a 2:1 Honours Degree. Pampered by the luxury of a student loan and disillusioned by the prospects of a great job I was blissfully unaware of what life would be like after my degree. What lay ahead was an enormous blank abyss, THE REST OF MY LIFE.

I would no longer be in a system where I had a routine, a plan, a three year plan. Since being a child like everyone else I was weened on an education system, following rules and guidlines. My life revolved around the order and timetable of this system, I woke up when everyone else woke up, I had holidays when everyone else had holidays, I had late nights when everyone else had late nights and so you get the picture. It also had a fixed future, more or less, from GCSE's came A Levels, from A Levels you can get a bit confused but for me this lead to an Art Foundation Diploma and then finally a Degree (before traveling on a cliched GAP Year). But what they don't prepare you for is what happens next...

I was lured into studying by the expectation that a degree will guarantee me a good job, but admittedly I idolised the lifestyle. Looking back the course benefitted me in a way I couldn't imagine, it changed the way I think and work. I wouldn't swap it for anything in the world. I only wish the certainty of a well paid job was a money back gurantee. After-all getting a great job was the main reason for studying at St Martins. 

So here I am now, living on benefits, that's what happened next. After graduating I worked at Cafe Nero for a short period. My outer body became a branded brushed aluminium shell, my eyes became small LED lights, my mouth transformed into a welcoming grin adorning words with politeness to those who don't deserve it. I voiced repetitive greetings and service related requirements, the last things to change were my hands and arms as they became cup shaped paws, my mind went blank. Yes, I became a robot slave. I was shackled to the very light weight minimum pay, as a result it was easy to break free. I decided to actually use the 2:1 degree I paid so much for.

The Early Weeks & a Bit of Background

So, who am I? Well to cut it short I'm a self confessed dole dosser and have been since the 8th October. What can I say, life is as sweet as the saturated basics value sugar currently swirling around in my mug of tea (80 tea bags for 27p).

Hopefully that short paragraph already provides a bit of perspective about how I view life at the moment. It's the outlook of someone with no income, just allowance money provided by the generous Conservative Party and the good tax payers of England. This service is handed out to the other 70.8% of the population who are just like me, grinning,.. I mean, without a job, sorry.

To say life is sweet, is a bit of a sugary overstatement, I can get by. If I didn't graduate with an overdraft and actually had some savings then yes life would be far sweeter as I wouldn't be concerned by how much I top up my oyster card each week. I wouldn't debate whether a Mc Donalds double cheeseburger with chips is more filling than 6 hot wings and chips, or calculate the life expectancy of a Primark jumper.

These things however make living with a limited budget more challenging and actually more exciting. It is to all intents and purposes a survival game, and I suppose also a cheating game.