Every day feels like Saturday, y’all.
I feel like I’m 4. Or 94. I miss appointments. Forget which day the pool is closed. I could watch Price Is Right every day. (Not Saturday or Sunday, but I won’t know that until I try and tune it in and find Danger Rangers or This Week With George Stephanopoulos on the air instead.)
I’m not losing it, friends. I’m just, unemployed.
It’s given me time to work on my disc golf game (I shot 5-under at Mint Hill!). Play and run with the kids (they kick my butt, so I take them to a figure-8 track nearby so that the laps sort of meld into one another!).
Take a nap (such a good one that I woke up with a sore throat).
But really, being unemployed is a lot of hard work. It’s not all about daytime TV, recreation, and leisure. It’s about waiting in line at Division of Social Services. Filling out forms. Staying on hold (without great music to listen to.)
It’s about time missing with the family because you spend hours scouring the Internet for jobs.
How to stay hungry, but also not go hungry
There’s no overtime pay when you’re unemployed. Or holiday pay.
To craft the perfect cover letter that’ll your love of their company. You swallow your pride and wait your turn at the food pantry. This time when the kids say “dad, there’s nothing to eat!” it’s not because we’re out of pop tarts and root beer, but because there’s really nothing to eat.
The key to navigating this work interruption: Worry enough that you stay hungry enough to hit the job search with enthusiasm and hope, and also recognizing the opportunity to spend some time outside and getting away from it all to keep yourself optimistic.
You can hit the job search with some enthusiasm and hope.
The toughest part – oh, aside from going broke, false-hope interviews and a right-lean stance politically in a clearly Democrat situation – was when I had to tell the kids. Elise and Marie immediately thought of my previous employer, Muzak.
You have friends there, dad.
They were nice to you there, dad. You could have a messy desk there and listen to music all day there, dad. True, true, true and true, girls. Grace had few words of wisdom, but a pretty awesome gesture.
She picked out a plush toy – a Shrek baby – plopped down on the floor next to me in her room, and gave it to me.
“Here daddy,” she said. “Take this on your interviews, for good luck.” No one since the time of Jesus has not gotten the job they’ve applied for when accompanied by a Shrek baby. I definitely don’t want to be the first.
Just a dad ... 
Us stay at home parents have always forgotten a day here & there. Although I’m not in the same situation as you, I can definitely understand the frustrations and struggles of empty interviews, applying to almost every job that you are qualified for and even some that are slightly out of reach.
Keep your head up and hopefully it will turn around sooner rather than later. Will be thinking of you & the girls.
Thanks Erica! I’m applying to jobs with the notion that everything is right in my wheelhouse. No industry is unfit for me so far. I just need to find one that finds me fit.
Uggh Eli! I hate to hear this. Insurance….it is where I am at now. It has been good to me post ‘Zak days. I will keep my ears open for you. Hang in there. In the meantime, you have a lot of friends….if you need anything, let us know!
Thanks Ashley. I’m applying everywhere. I’d just like to work again. If you ever feel like bringing along your favorite Hispanic blogger to lunch, you just let me know.
UGH. Job hunting is the WORST. Since the banking crisis of 2008, we have been through it a few times. It is hard to stay positive and yet totally necessary. I wonder if this experience will change your opinion at all on the need for government programs that actually help people in need.
It’s no fun to job hunt, until you find a really cool posting, and start imagining yourself in that role. You know, like you used to when you saw Kirk Cameron. Or like I do, when I see steak on a billboard or TV commercial.
Positive is definitely the only way to go. Remember, I’m a Broncos fan. It’s all we have.
As for government programs: I’m not opposed to them. I’d just rather not use them. To me, there are others who need them more. I’ll write about it someday, but on my visit to the food pantry, I left a lot on the table, because I felt like others needed it more.
I’m just ready to work. Even if I can’t bust through to the middle class, just let me work. When, what I have will be my own.
Eli, just saw this post and I wish you the best of luck. I have never talked with anyone more positive and upbeat about life. You will find a job and the company that hires you will be very fortunate to have you on board.
You’re very sweet Sharon! Since I wrote this post, I got a job with an awesome company as a copywriter. I’ll have to blog about it soon!
Enjoyed this post Eli. And glad to read in the comments that you are now employed! I was laid off last summer from a very flexible work at home position. Actually the investor pulled out of the start up I was working for, so actually all of us were laid off, but that didn’t make it any easier. There’s not too many of those jobs like that out there and I need the flexibility with my kids’ schedules. So that is actually why I started my own business and I began blogging around the same time!
and look at you now! I think when it’s necessary, that’s when we make just the right adjustments.
Eli, I hadn’t read this one before. Your candor is touching and your humor is so refreshing about what I am sure was a stressful (maybe even downright scary) time in your life. So glad you are back on top where you clearly belong!
It’s good to revisit it, and remember where I was then. Life is good now. I don’t know if I’m on top – but I’m in the mix, and that’s good enough for me.
I’ve been there and job hunting can suck the life out of you. I hope you find something soon.
Thanks Robbie – I should point out that since that post, I’ve gotten a dream job, writing all day. It’s important to me to remember, though, the time in my life that came before this!