Old Farmers: Immigration

Comedy Festival Dept: Take John Burke. The 24-year-old farmers' son from the west of Ireland came here last spring after doing a BA in English and philosophy in Galway and spending a year living at home, brushing up his yoga, meditation and tai chi. It was a friend's idea to leave Ireland. They chose Montreal for the comedy festival and the legendary parties. At the last minute the friend pulled out but John stuck with the plan. "I was actually on the plane when I heard people next to me speaking French, then somebody on the other side, and I thought, fright!, that's right, this whole thing is gonna be in French!" He had purposely avoided doing any kind of research, preferring the experience of arriving as "an ignorant person.", according to Montreal Gazette. "All through college, they tell you, 'Be yourself,' " he says. "That's rubbish. You're far better off being the person they want to hire. It's a great job, really. I can't believe how good Chris is at selling insurance for heaters, about nine contracts a day." The seepage of young talent to larger, more prosperous cities is -and will continue to be -a drain on Montreal. Our official language being French, people who speak and write French fluently will naturally have an advantage, with those who know English as well having the best shot at top jobs. But that doesn't mean Montreal has lost its power as a destination city, especially for the adventurous. His first job as a dishwasher left no time or energy to pursue his main reasons for coming here, so he quit and started looking for better work. Weeks went by, rejections piled up. Finally one day he "saw the light" and realized that as an attitudinally challenged unilingual immigrant, he was never going to get a job. So he adapted an alter ego, secretly recasting himself as Chris Landis, a sycophantic yes-man who'll kiss anything to get ahead. When a telemarketing manager interviewing him held up a paper clip and said, "Sell this to me," Chris grabbed it and launched into a passionate monologue about the beauties of a versatile office organizer. He got the job. The hours are perfect: 1 p.m. until 9, so he can go out every night and sleep in every morning. As reported in the news.
@t telemarketing manager, yoga meditation