I was nearly an hour late for the Unemployment Olympics and worried that I would have missed the days events, including Fax Toss (sort of like bacci but...with fax machines), Pin the Blame on the Boss (featuring a pinata filled with PayDays that was busted open by a man brandishing an office phone) and the You're Fired Race (in which participants had to race to a makeshift unemployment office crafted from cardboard boxes). However, it turns out I was right on time. As I walked into the entrance of Tompkins Square Park on E. 10th and Avenue A, I learned from a fellow unemployed person that Fax Toss had just begun.
I chatted for a few minutes about the event with this dude, first initial D, who used to be a "high-end residential interior decorator". He explained that his job was to either gut and renovate or redecorate people's homes, ranging from specifics such as plumbing, wall furnishings or even decorative applications like venetian plaster. D was there to check it out and get a laugh, just like me. Thanks to Nick Goddard's outlandish sense of humor and fun, the entire crowd was able to let loose and have a laugh.
After losing his job as an options trader in February 2009, Nick decided to create the Unemployment Olympics as a way to liven people's spirits. Thankfully, due to the terrific spring weather, the goofy games, Nick's cheery, youthful attitude, and the serious prizes (gift certificates to Lula's Sweet Apothecary, $40 Curly Bucks to Curly's Vegetarian Lunch or a $50 bar tab at the Cubby Hole, among others) folks left smiling and thanking Nick for brightening their day.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself and even forgot for a little while that I was unemployed. Being able to laugh and knowing that I wasn't alone while I did so made the entire situation a little bit sweeter. Thanks, Nick! Please do this again.
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