UNEMPLOYED AGAIN, NATURALLY (sung to the tune Alone Again, Naturally)

Well, here I am again, a year later to the month. Yeah, I've been busy.

Last year at this time I was unemployed. Well, I found a job in the ad industry, the industry that I SWORE I would not return to. However, when you've run out of unemployment benefits, are living on food stamps, and studying to get your commercial driver's license because one of the only jobs left that will accept you without age discrimation (it exists) is driving a city bus, you take the ad job. The pay was good, the people were nice, and I had a great view of Lake Union. I was off to a good start; or so I thought.

Well, that was last year. I worked at the agency for ten months. One day, about two weeks ago, I was called into HR. The news was not good. The company's billing was way down. They had to let a number of people go from other departments. One of our clients was going to take their programs on hiatus. Another client decided now was not a good time to introduce a new product. Smart on their part, bad for the agency. So, I was laid off AGAIN! This is the tenth time I've been unemployed in the thirty plus years I've devoted to the ad industry, so I'm an old hand at it.

It's a funny thing about not working - the days go by just as quickly. You get up, have a cup of coffee, get on the computer, check your emails, respond to any that are worthwhile, stare at the emails telling you how you can make money on the Internet, wonder how they work, snap out of that daze, read the news, check out some new job sites, rework another resume for another job, click off from the computer, take a shower, get dressed and off you go. Before you know it, it's 12 noon, and you've either arranged for a job interview, or arranged the flowers you've brought in from the garden.

Sometimes, during these times of inactivity, I feel guilty if I'm outside taking a walk and catching a few of the winter sun's rays. I feel that I should be doing SOMETHING about getting a job. Except, I've done just about everything that one can do without actually kidnapping some HR person and holding them hostage until they give me a job.

A year ago, the numbers of people feeling the unemployment frustration were in contained numbers. Now it is 4 million Americans who are feeling the pain, and the numbers are growing daily. They keep saying it is a scary time. Tell me about it. Scared isn't the half of it. I feel fortunate that it is only my husband and I. We don't have small children or a lot of credit card debt; we were able to get our car payment reduced to a more reasonable rate in the last ten months that I worked. We live in a house where our landlord lives downstairs. The last time we were at a point of trying to make ends meet, we asked to meet with him to give him a financial status report. He was relieved; he thought we were moving out. He carried the shared utilities until I began working again. Yes, I consider myself quite fortunate.

I can't imagine families who are in this unemployment predicament. There was nothing sadder for me as the day I read about the family of five whose husband/father shot his wife and children and then himself because they had both lost their jobs. I usually feel bad about hearing accounts such as this, and I don't get emotionally involved with news stories about people who I don't know or live near, but it really hit me hard when their story came to light. What's really sad, is that this is one of many stories that will be told in the days to come. For some, the times are desperate; they feel there is nowhere for them to turn.

I have to say that this was the last thing I expected so late in life - being unemployed and having to reinvent myself. However, reinvention is not such a bad thing. You'd be surprised what you can end up doing given the opportunity to think about other fields of employment. I'm sure there are a lot of people who would disagree because it takes a bit of work and inventiveness, but, as my mother always told me, "you can do anything you want to do and be anything you want to be if you put your mind to it." But she wasn't thrilled when I announced I wanted to be a clown. Didn't go over too well. That's okay Mom, it never happened.