Mr. Chad Graham
The Arizona Republic

Dear Mr. Graham:

I was out of work for a while last year and got into the habit of reading the Careerbuilder section of your paper. This was about the same time you were discussing ways for people fortunate enough to have jobs that offered sick time to abuse sick time. That article was in the Business section, but I sometimes still read the Careerbuilder section, mainly out of morbid curiousity about how few jobs are being advertised in metro Phoenix these days. I noticed today you had written in that section, giving free advertising to Donna Tucker, owner of Career PRO Resume Center.

She supposedly can greatly improve people's chances of getting a job just by altering one's resume, and her services start at the low, low price of just $175. I was amazed. What desperate unemployed person wouldn't want to give away that sum to a scam artist instead of spending it on things like food, fuel, and rent? I feel like such a fool for not doing that. I got my current job as a metallurgical furnace operator by simply going to the company and filling out an application. I didn't submit any kind of resume. I also didn't follow your paper's other advice by wearing a suit and tie to the interview. I was naive enough to think that because I would never wear that kind of clothing working around furnaces and oil quench tanks, I also should not dress that way for the interview. It's amazing I got this job despite those terrible blunders!

Of course I appreciate that you were trying to be funny with your false sickness article, and I suspect you are trying to be funny with the idea of paying $175 or more for a fancy resume, so maybe this will make you and your readers laugh. I suggest you print the following:

If you're unemployed and have $175, you can probably get a second-hand pistol and some ammunition for that. Use it on the person who fired you or laid you off. There might be less unemployment if more people did that. Ha ha!

Sincerely,

Kevin Walsh