In '93 I was working for a banner towing service that flew over the Gulf Beaches. I did'nt have a car and got around on a mountain bike. Early one morning my co-worker and I had just set up the first run of banners for the planes to pick up at Albert Whitted Municipal Airport in Downtown St. Pete Florida. The airport was right on the edge of Tampa Bay and only about 20 blocks from my apartment easy to get to and I made enough to get by. Anyway, the emergency sirens started blasting at the Coast Guard base south of us, and we stood there by the seawall and watched a cutter enter the bay and start hauling ass to the south. About 10 minutes later, the first tendrils of a huge oil slick began floating by. This was not good. We crossed the runway and ran to the office. The damn phone was ringing as we got there. It was the first of many accounts cancelling their banner orders because tar balls were already showing up on the beaches. In the weeks that followed, the only customers left was Wagon Wheel Flea Market and a few banners that flew over Tampa. There was'nt enough work for two men, so I was out of a job.
Luckily, I had lived in the same building a few years, so I started networking and asking friends about available jobs. I wound up applying to a day care center to drive a van taking kids to and from school and back to the day care for after school care until their parents came and got them. I had never worked around kids in my life, and had to go back and forth from home mornings and afternoons. The pay was minimal, but it kept me going. As part of the job, the boss paid me to attend night school to get the required classroom hours in childcare development, so I could go on as a Caregiver full time in the summer. It blew a lot of peoples minds that I was working with kids. The experience gave me enough clout to go to the head of the line once School Bus Driver positions opened up the next fall. It wound up being the highest paying job I ever had.
So, what I am getting at is for you not to be afraid to take a step down and try something completely different. It just may be the ticket to a brighter future.
Merry Christmas and good luck!