I Need A Job

It's been a year this weekend since I was last employed. I haven't wasted the entire year; I did go back to school. I decided to take Real Estate courses, although some people may think that's really a waste of my time because of the economic conditions that are still plaguing that industry, not to mention that while there are still jobs in the industry, the buying and selling has really slowed down. No, I'm not paying for the education; the Community College I attend and some other sources have paid for my credits and a portion of my books.

I didn't want to go back into the field I've worked in for the past 32 years, but it seems that it's the only place I can make a living, not wait until things turn around, and offer my experience in an ever-changing landscape. That landscape is the advertising industry. Try as I may to get away and reinvent myself in a new career, occasional opportunities arise that entice me to interview and, gee maybe, get a job.

I feel though that my world is slowly falling apart and it's not getting any better. My husband and I have made it this far with unemployment and his career as a musician/instructor, but the need for entertainment really slowed down this past year and it really hasn't gotten a lot better. He still has students to teach, and occasionally fills in for the head of the music department at a university that majors in the arts, but other than that, it has been a slow go. I'm receiving Emergency Unemployment, but that doesn't cover all our costs and it's getting a little close to the bone as to how we can make up the dollars to pay for it all.

Fortunately, there is no credit card debt, the car is paid for, and we don't have any catastrophic health issues. I pray to God that we remain healthy, especially me since I have not health insurance (my husband served in the military so he is at least entitled to Veterans care). The problems that do exist are the car needs a brake job and it's costly, but the worst is that my sister has had a mini-stroke, lives alone 3,500 miles away, and I don't have the money to purchase a ticket and get to her so I can be of some help while she recovers. I can't stop worrying about how she's doing and know she needs help, but there is really no one to call and get her help.

What bothers me is the predicament that this country, and many of its people, are in. My parents taught me to work hard, have integrity, do a good job. Well, I've done all those things, and I'm still unemployed. Years ago you were a real loser if you were unemployed. There was something really wrong with you. Not now; unemployment means that you proably worked for losers and they couldn't handle their business. Hey, why should they give up their multi-million dollar home, exotic cars (and the must-have Range Rover or the like), trips abroad, and millions in bonus money? Why worry about me and my life, or the lives of millions of other Americans who did the same thing I did by working with integrity, just to be thrown out into the cold of the world and live on unemployment benefits (I've always wondered why they use the word "benefit" with unemployment, as if it's a really good thing to have. I just don't get being unemployed as a benefit).

In the past five years, I've been unemployed three times. Each of the positions that I had were eliminated, due to economics in one way or another. I'd like to eliminate some of the players that caused these eliminations due to economics. The first layoff was due to politics; they lost three major ad accounts and had to close the branch I worked in; the second was due to people impersonating being good when they were not. The radio program I produced became competition to their big, Golden Goose radio program on the sister station, so that ended that. The last was due to the economic crisis we are in right now. A whole year and nothing has really changed.

The media is reporting that the White House sees economic improvement. Really? Why haven't I been touched with this magic? Why are others, like myself, tired and disgusted by the same rhetoric we hear over and over on the news. Or better, the ANNOYING people who do special advice reports for people looking for work. They talk about your resume, where to look, how to be proactive in your search and approach to a potential interview; cheery, cheery faces going on and on and on. What's annoying? They're not telling me anything new and different and they have a job. Get out of my face with your smile and advice. Report on something else.

I'm too done with this stage of my life. I thought at this time I could look forward to retirement. What a laugh. All I look forward to is an answer to a resume submission, and possibly getting back to work. With the way things are working out, I'll probably end up on Social Security before I see a job.