The Job Thang

"So what do you 'do' for a living?"
"I'm a professional plucking job hunter. Whatcha got needs doin'?"

To say that things are bad here in 10%PLUS unemployed Georgia is an understatement.

The Department of Labor (which, as a government engine of efficiency and reliability, is , of course, a joke) has now started telling people who call, simply, "No jobs."

When they recently posted a listing of about 35 jobs in the area, I excitedly hopped online at the library to search what I was qualified for, only to find that every position had already been filled.

The little green piece of paper that you had to fill out in days of old? Detailing when and where you went and who you talked to to prove that you had been searching for work? They have discarded it. You just call or register online. No worries; they already know it's a waste of time and there is nothing available.

Of course, I had prior experience with the Department of Labor, from when I wasted time trying to get my overtime pay and holiday pay from a previous employer. Since I had the burden of proof, and I wasn't a major company, I received the S.O.L. discount.

More recently, with Movie Gallery, the dispute was taken to a hearing to prove I was unlawfully fired from the company. In the hearing, the employer rep was caught in a lie during the hearing, and after she further lied under oath, I presented my audio taped evidence. In her own voice she admitted that I was fired, and the proof was given to GA DOL. (The problem was that MG was lying and saying I walked off the job with no notice, and was thus ineligible to receive benefits.) They still ruled against me. Legalities pending.

Needless to say, I am in a BAD way as I sit a week away from SEVEN MONTHS without a paycheck.

I have looked into every possible job out there. I have killed a dozen trees with the number of my paper applications I have distributed. I'm on monster.com, careerbuilder.com, jobs.com, indeed.com, and some I've forgotten about, I'm sure. I'm signed with temp agencies, I've been on interviews, I've lowered myself to the notion of working with 16 year-olds flipping burgers at base pay. Can't get a BITE! (Course, part of the problem too is that I'm a leftist political activist and personality in a small rural South West Georgia town. If you think there aren't people who will refuse me available jobs based on 'who I am,' you need to get out more. These are the same folks who hollered the death threats as i campaigned for our President last year.)

I have cashed out all the stocks and insurance policies that I held. I sold my old beater for scrap (Hell, I sold seats out of my current car for scrap metal.) I had a yard sale and sold anything that was nonessential. I have sold my stove, couches, my spare tires, my comics collection, artwork, jewelry, and everything that isn't battened down. I am looking into the plasma selling bit for next week, although I seem to recall a distant memory involving passing out upon witnessing the procedure on another.

I had already turned off (well, couldn't pay for! Same diff!) computer service, pest control service, phone service, sat elite TV, and every possible 'extra.'

I have done job testing in order to receive re-numeration, returned to school (for the purpose of doing so, but the financial aid overflow helped me,) and applied for everything I know to do. The public assistance for students had all their funds dry up, and will not even have any for the last half of 2009. Without children, I do not qualify for electricity assistance, but I hear all their funds are dried up even before they made it to people on the waiting list.

I have offered to prostrate and prostitute myself for ANY job imaginable, and people say they have nothing. Not a one hour job, a one day job, a one week job. Local businesses have started hanging large signs in the windows that announce "NOT Taking Applications."

My neighbors complain about having to decide which between chicken, fish, beef or pork for dinner because they are so tired of the 'same old thing.' This, with a freezer full of food and half of what they cook being tossed in the garbage. I'd like to line them against a wall and group bitch slap them. Or beat them to death with a refrigerator.

Here's another note; If you KNOW that someone is in a bad way financially, and you have no interest or intention of helping them, kindly don't groan endlessly about the limitations of your Ultimate Cable Experience satellite TV package. Don't complain about making a trip to a neighboring town being so far when you're going to pick up a luxury item and have gas to burn. Don't rave on and on about a dinner out where you splurged with cash for 8 people, even though you 'don't know how you're going top make it.' Needless to say, I don't visit the neighbors anymore.

See, I was frugal and a recycler of all sorts from way back. I've lived in a car and on the streets, so doing without isn't a big deal either. The main problem for a lot of people is laziness and unwillingness to be thrifty. Or even simply adapt. There's a lot of paring down that can occur long before it comes time to lose the house. But folks' identity is rolled up in what they posses or what they can afford to do. Happiness is related directly to how well they can keep up with the Jones-es. I can dig it. I can. But flexibility is part of life, too.

And you're only as miserable as you're willing to be.

Happiness is a choice, not chance. And regardless of the situational specifics, I'm going to be happy. If others are willing to meet the challenge, I think they'll be able to do the same. Not to be heartless, but many of us were in line for a repositioning of priorities. Me, I'm working hard at staying sober, and remembering that bullshit like robbery and murder is a long term solution to a short term problem.

JOBLESS...and LOVIN' IT!!!! Woo-hoo!

Not really. Not even remotely close to an accurate statement. But that doesn't stop nimrods, morons, and troglodytes from speculating and being asinine.

Being jobless isn't a chosen fucking profession. I'm not coasting along on mass amounts (or any size amounts) of government funding. (Or any other sort of secretive benefactor-provided aid.)

My days are not spent popping bon-bons and watching soap operas. I don't sleep in, stay in my bath robe, or keep the shades drawn.

Tell me where the job that will hire me is located and I will pack and leave tonight. I will live out of my vehicle, assuming the road-weary bitch lasts to this mythic destination, until my first check clears.

As someone who doesn't bullshit or 'play games' well, I don't have an extensive network of people known to me. There is no hookup in the offing. There are no nepotistic dream desk jobs in my future.

You hang on to the hope of the possibility of the illusion of a potential maybe. You just keep plugging away, in spite of inane comments, unreturned phone calls, disappearing friends, and broken faith. You just keep plugging along.

But the 'Little Engine That Could' gets old when there seems to be no end in sight. Perseverance is do-able when there is a designated time or place for a finish line. When the status quo becomes "no end in sight," dignity and integrity become harder to maintain.

And as the deficit column continues to rapidly magnify, at the expense of the dwindling surpluses, what's a person to do?

People give advice like "Do the next right thing." "Tie a knot in the rope and hand on."
"This, too, shall pass."

The trick is breaking free of the despair which is cemented into your heart. This may not be the inevitable outcome. This may not be the final tally. But believing that gets increasingly difficult when one loses sight of any positives, any prospects, any hope.

A life lacking options is a horrifying place to be.

So I think about my heroes. People--men and women--who endured far greater than this and kept their sense of self. Survivors of poverty like my grandmother. Survivors of hardship like James Baldwin. People who suffered unimaginable living, like Solomon Radasky. People of courage and conviction like Harper Lee.

I remember that it is possible to come through torment, no matter the type or level, and remain intact. To endure. To survive. To thrive. To prosper.

Despite handicaps, heartaches, hassles, or homelessness. It may not be the most eloquent of hope-filled notions, but I know I am broken, not beaten. I know that this is temporary, and the momentary darkness needs my permission in order to take me down. I don't give it.

I am reclaiming my fighting spirit. I have everything I need within me, no matter what losses I have suffered or continue to face. I remember that others have not caved in under these same circumstance, or worse. I draw inspiration from them. Perhaps someone else can draw it from me.

WHEN YOU'RE UNEMPLOYED.....

When you're unemployed...

...and people ask you repeatedly "Have you found a job, yet?",
it wears down your nerves.

Do they plan on offering you a job if the answer is "No"?

Are they such a close friend that such personal information is
pertinent to them?

Are they unaware of what a personal inquiry this is? Are they
stupid? Insensitive? A real ass with a penchant for 'sticking it to'
others?

Do they realize how loud and booming their voice is in a public
place filled with onlookers?

Is the question curiosity, or indictment?

Should I be running my daily agenda by strangers to make sure
I'm maximizing my job search potential? Should I be seen in front
of stores, lest the talk be that "He really does have money; he's
feigning hardship."?

Do I need to carry proof of my 25 year work history to show
nosy bastards that I have pulled my weight, and food stamps
are a legitimate return on my paying in?

Should I be 'dressed for success' at all times, lest a "once-in-a-
lifetime" job offer slip through my fingers at the post office?

Is it worth my time to explain that the Such-and-Such Store is
not really hiring, they just have a permanent sign in the window
posting otherwise?

Why does the question "Where all have you applied?" seem
like a casual chat type of query? I know they don't want the
actual list of one-hundred-and-thirteen-and-counting distributed
resumes and applications. Will the comment "Everywhere"
be met with equal disdain?

Do people watch the news? Are they aware that joblessness just
came in at over 10% in the state of Georgia, again? That the
Georgia Department of Labor--a worthless wretch of an institution,
anyway--is publicly declaring that there is no reason even to call for
jobs, since there are none available.

Please, do......
tell me what you think I should do. I'm sure the perspective on my
myriad failings is more illuminated from the advantage of the outside
looking in.