The Joys of Unemployment

One day last week I was chatting with a friend who asked me what I was going to do in January when my unemployment benefits ran out.   I wasn’t concerned since I had recently qualified for the emergency extension.  I’d be OK. Yeah Right!

I mentally flogged myself.

When I found out that the emergency extensions EXPIRED December 31, 2009 every hair on my body stood at attention, a searing pain developed in my temple and my left eye twitched uncontrollably.   Realizing that it was already December and I had less than thirty days left I mentally flogged myself.  I should have paid more attention.  I should have asked more questions.  I should have done more research.  I should have, could have…well, you get the drift.

So, me being me, I dove into the internet and researched until both eyes began to twitch.  I found out our optimistic political leaders had determined that the recession/depression would be over by 2010.  Hey, I thought it would be over by 2010.  They have extended the most depressed states until mid February, but given present circumstances 6 weeks may not be long enough.  [1]70,000 Michigan unemployed workers stand to drop off the emergency rolls in February and that is less than 10% of the total unemployed in the state.

[1]“On Nov. 6, President Barack Obama signed a bill giving an additional 14 weeks to all states, plus the six weeks for the high-unemployment states. But because there aren’t that many weeks left in the year, no one could get the extra weeks without moving the expiration date.”

That move could cost American taxpayers as much as 10 billion (yep, I said 10 Billion) dollars.  So congress hesitates to loose the votes of the 85% of the population who are employed.  I think at this point my family thought I developed Turrets.  Sure dropping the numbers off the unemployment rolls would improve our statistics.  Hey, we might only have 14% unemployment.  The reality would be that 70,000 persons would be without an income and I would be one of them.

When I lost my job to the economy on New Years Eve last year I thought that as a college grad and with the experience and skills I possess I would be able to find another job anytime I wanted to.  I looked until finding a job had become a full time job in itself.  I sold myself to employers until I believed all the propaganda I was selling and became discouraged enough to coin my talents as propaganda when rejection after rejection landed in my lap.

I should have, could have… well you know.   What I didn’t realize until I Googled “Unemployment” was that I started out with 3 strikes against me.  The first was the fact that I live in a blue collar state with the highest unemployment rate in the nation.  Over 15% of Michigan workers are on the unemployment rolls.  My dreams were punctuated with nightmare lines of people; young and old, educated and experienced workers who all had just a slightly better something than I did.

"I Googled unemployment"

My second strike is the fact that I just turned 50.  That’s supposed to mean I am a guru of experience and knowledge and all youthful inexperience should look to me for wisdom.  HA! In another century maybe!  Somehow 50 turned me into an old lecturing stupid old woman in employers eyes.  I heard from managers who didn’t look old enough to drive, “We have a young, exciting office and we don’t think you fit”.  What does it say about me that I wanted lecture the smug condescension right off their face.  Yep, they were right…I probably don’t fit.    I’ve also heard, “You are overqualified and we can’t afford you and if we could we don’t think you would stay”.  I got news for them; I’ll clean out sewers if it means not eating out of trash cans or freezing to death.   OK, I am exaggerating about the freezing to death, but keep in mind that this IS the reality in some cases.  As for staying…pay me a living wage and I’ll be your most devoted employee.

My third strike is that I am connected here.  Relocating is not a good option for me. I own a home and am solidly rooted.  I didn’t say it wasn’t an option, just not a good one.  My home isn’t worth half of what I paid for it and most of us have heard of the auction in which Michigan couldn’t sell homes valued at $1.00.   Unemployment doesn’t exactly provide a relocation allowance.  In fact, most people on unemployment are below the poverty level.  It’s a slow and torturous financial death.  I can picture my Buick roof piled so high with stuff that it won’t fit under the gas station awning as I try to move as many of my belongings hundreds or even thousands of miles to a job in another state.

So what is my point?  Let’s practice some uncommon sense.  What are our options?  70,000 people in the State of Michigan alone will be without an income once the extensions expire.  Well, we could let them starve.  I mean it’s their own fault they are in this condition.  Right?  The majority of the population has jobs.  You get rid of the chaff in hard times…Soooo…

I may get letters for this because I am going on my soapbox for a paragraph or two.  I think we are in a really bad state if we’ve lost our compassion.  We were founded on freedom and God and country.  We came to America to get away from poor houses where people starved to death and no one noticed.  We moved away from a class system where the rich felt that the lower class was exactly that.  We were founded on biblical principals in which neighbors helped neighbors without strings attached and those down on their luck were helped until luck improved.  I think it’s ironic that we should remember Job in these JOBless times.

I’d like to call everyone to action.  What can you do?  I don’t know…What CAN you do?  Can you write your congressmen and women asking for the extension?  Can you buy an extra loaf of bread for the overwhelmed food pantries?  Can you buy a Christmas present for a child or shovel the drive of an elderly person?  What can YOU do? Let’s step back in time and recapture our compassion.  OK…I am stepping down now.

[1] December 03. 2009 1:00AM  Bill would extend Michigan jobless pay 6 more weeks  Quote from Deb Price / Detroit News Washington Bureau