Looking for a Pro in an Amateur World

I was visiting the ads recently – you know the ads—DO, CL, DM…all the usual haunts and it dawns on me that there are an awful lot of dysfunctional, unrealistic thinking about exactly what these ads purport to be and more importantly, who is out there looking for a gig.
One ad says: “Looking for Pro—will accept nothing less”
What the ad doesn’t say: “We treat this as a hobby—sometimes we get paid, sometimes we don’t”
Another ad: Age not an issue but preferably 25 to 40 with a cool look (after all, it is show business... laugh).
What the ad doesn’t say: “I guess age IS an issue along with looks and coolness and ability and charm and hey…do you know any good looking women?”
During my journey on the audition circuit (which seems to have no discernable ending), I hear all the stories about how difficult it is to find a drummer. I think what they mean to say is: “It’s difficult to find a drummer who…..”
Fill in your own blank.
I personally know a lot of drummers looking—and by the way—the ads are a terrible place to be looking for a gig. Most of whom I visit with all have similar stories.
It really doesn’t matter how you play. It seems bands are looking for the total package. It’s just like finding the perfect woman. Just when you think you have, she talks.
Two points to put a caboose on this train of thought:
First, if you’re looking for the perfect drummer, the total package, the guy whose the perfect age, with the perfect look, the perfect clock, the perfect chops, who will be on time every time, know the songs, play them perfectly and keep his mouth shut and do this all for little and sometimes no money---and you actually find him--please contact me immediately… I’d like to meet him or her.
Second, and really, just another recent revelation that I mentioned earlier. The ads are the worst place to find a gig. After several months of looking for a gig in the ads, I realized that I just keep running into the same people looking for the same thing and not finding it. It seems that there are two very distinct circles of musicians: Those who play and are active in the music community and those who are inactive and just keep looking and finding the same people over and over again.I keep thinking that I’ll find who I’m looking for when I stop looking.