As I was asked in a recent comment who won the recent guess-the-weight-of-the-junk-mail I felt it was time to reveal the winner. The leaflets weighed 112.2kg so therefore, drum roll definitely not necessary, was Paul. However I have to say I prefer Jez’s tiebreaker answer. I am sorry Paul I know you only said it in jest but your answer touched a raw nerve.

Delivering leaflets of course is a job that I accept having turned down countless other very lucrative opportunities. I enjoy being moaned at because I cannot control the fall of a bundle of leaflets on the other side of a letterbox. I find it assuming to see people smirking at me as here is a grown man doing something that kids do for a little pocket money. Of course I would prefer a “proper job” but that choice isn’t in my hands.

I have no control over industrial disputes at the book factory. If the management and the union wish to play mind games so be it, I have no influence over them; I just have to accept the hand I have been dealt. Hopefully soon the orders at the factory will be back to their normal level now that the conflict has been settled and I will have work again.

Its not as if I haven’t been looking for other jobs. I have applied for countless jobs at a similar level to what I was employed with before I left England. They have all turned out the same “we thank you for your interest but…..”. It’s difficult enough for Swedes to find work over here so why would they want an immigrant? who could you take if you assume the same level of competence, a Swede or someone who came over with the last boat? I have to keep adding on my plus points, the college course I am doing at the moment should help, being a Swedish qualification instead of some mis-understood foreign grade.

In the meantime I just have to manage as best I can. I don’t want handouts. While I was at college with other immigrants I met several who had been in Sweden for over 2 years. In that time they had been living in their own little cosy apartment provided by council benefits, sitting on their balcony not learning Swedish but painting pretty pictures. Is it any wonder immigrants get a bad name? I don’t want to be seen like that, so even if it isn’t a “proper job” I will take it. At the end of the day I want to be able to say I have paid more into the system than I have taken out.

Sorry for the whinge but I had to get that of my chest.