Question from a Reader

Today requires another post.  How can I leave my readers with just a few, paltry paragraphs?  I did not get a cupcake.  There was a strawberries and cream cupcake that was proclaimed vegan.  Why this disappointed me so much, I do not know.  What was more disappointing was the thin smear of some kind of sad excuse for frosting on the top.  The cupcake itself look hard, crusty and inedible to a true cupcake connoisseur.  I was looking for the over-sized cupcakes with mounds of butter cream frosting on top.  I shall have to make my own.  From scratch.  I have all the ingredients and it will save me from having to buy a box mix.  I will, however, have to go buy some powdered sugar for the butter cream frosting.

But, wait....let's read this comment from a dutiful reader and respond to it.  Other unemployed persons, please feel free to chime in with your response to our dear reader, Elizabeth.  Elizabeth says:

I have been following your blog for some time now; I don't understand why you don't just get a job to have a job...like working anywhere doing anything. It seems that you feel it is beneath you to be employed doing anything other than a job that is in your field making boat loads of cash. Sometimes it is better to do something than nothing. In my opinion I think that a prospective employer would wonder what you have been doing this whole time that you have been unemployed, but I guess they could read your blog.... 

First, thank you, Elizabeth, for asking what seems on the surface, to be a valid and legitimate question from someone who presumably, has never experienced unemployment.

Ah, where to begin?  First, let me explain that I have a mortgage to pay, and I am single so I do not have a spouse or significant other to help me with this.  Secondly, unemployment benefits are calculated as a percentage of your previous salary.  So, mine are pretty decent and I am thankful to be able to cover my mortgage and my HOA fee, and not a lot else.  If I were to "just get a job to have a job...like working anywhere doing anything" I likely would not get paid as much as I do in benefits, thereby jeopardizing my ability to pay my mortgage, feed myself and my cats, pay my other bills, etc.  This is just simple mathematics, Elizabeth.

I do not, in fact, feel it is beneath me to be employed doing anything other than a job in my field making boat loads of cash.  It just does not make sense financially for me to do so.  But there is something else that we must consider.  What employer is going to hire a former VP to do just any job?  Dear Elizabeth, let me tell you: none that I have contacted so far.  I would be happy to share with you my litany of jobs for which I have applied, in my field and out of my field, that would pay half or less than half of what I used to make (but of course, more than my bennies pay me).  The presumption of an employer is that if they were to under-employ me, I would rapidly become bored, unproductive and as soon as I were to find a more appropriate position, I would jump ship.  They are absolutely correct.

Do you know how much it costs to hire one employee, Elizabeth?  I don't either, I can't remember the figure, but it is a LOT of money.  Hiring, training, benefits and the like.  To hire someone who will be bored, unproductive and as quickly as possible jump ship is not a financially savvy undertaking for any business, and as so many businesses find themselves needing to be extremely frugal, it would be a rare company you could find who would want to take on such a financial burden over and over and over and over as the masses of un- and under-employed individuals go for "just anything" and use them as a jumping point to a better gig.  When you consider that roughly 8.4 million jobs have disappeared, and if everyone just got jobs, just to get jobs, and then move on to the next best just a job, how much that would cost not just the companies, but how that would effect you the consumer, Elizabeth?  Very cost inefficient.  But, I don't expect you to have thought of that.

Elizabeth.  I have applied for retail positions.  I worked retail all through college.  In fact, Liz-diz, if I may take the liberty of nick-naming you, I worked 4 part-time jobs during college because my father refused to let me take out loans or to contribute financially to my education.  I tell you this, because I want to dispel that silly notion that is undoubtedly lodged in your head that I am a lazy individual. After applying for a handful of these jobs it was my realization that I'd lose benefits, lose time to spend in a real job search and essentially be an inefficient use of my time.

Prospective employers have, in fact, wondered what I have been doing.  And do you know, Liz-diz my dear, what they say when I tell them about my volunteering, my small consulting gigs, my leadership classes, my job search and networking and connecting and figuring out what the hell I want to do with my life, among the other things I do that I do not write about on this blog?  They are impressed!  Yes!  The very best of employers who would hire me because I was a VP and have some heavy titles and experience on my resume, they are so happy that I have not settled for just a job!  It shows that I have determination, tenacity and passion for my career and industry.  I care about my job, about my career.  It's important to me.  And because I care about my job, they know that I am 100% serious about working for them.  I'm not just foolishly bandying about, applying for silly jobs that are beneath me, wasting their time and money.

I've lost almost all other dignities in my life, Liz-diz, including the one that can accuse unemployed people from my high, employed tower and tell them how lazy they must be.  For you to imply that I do nothing is an insult of the highest sort.  I'd like to see you try to find a job these days and then say that you do nothing.  It's a full-time job, looking for a job.  I'm sure you haven't a clue what an emotional thing it is, to have rejection as your daily routine.  That you can't even find a job, just any job.  Cursed is the woman with too much experience.  Of course, it's entirely possible that you would not have a problem finding just any job, Lizzie, because you have not arrived at the level of career at which I had.  That oddly makes it easier for you.  There are many, many just jobs out there for those who did not work hard, have tenacity and smarts and intelligence to excel and exceed and rise head and shoulders above their peers.  Or were just plain too lazy to do so.

Would you rather, Liz-diz, that I take a job, any job, say flipping burgers, a cashier, a landscaper, a...whatever...and lose my house, lose my car, lose everything I own, go into bankruptcy and foreclosure and add to this current credit crisis?  Or would you prefer that I continue to pay my mortgage and be a good, productive member of society (as I imagine this might be your idea of a productive member of society).  

Lastly, Liz the diz, I do know a gentleman who has been unemployed for a year and half and has actually taken a job, just any job.  He was not at the level of career that I was, but I can tell you from my conversations with him, that he feels a whole host of not so positive emotions about take a job, just any job.  It's depressing.  You can't even imagine what soul-crushing he has already been through in a year and half and then what soul-sacrificing he had to do to take just a job.  I wish I could impress upon you that unemployment is about more than just taking a job, any job.  The toll it takes on you, emotionally, physically, socially and financially is more than I think most people can bear.  And Liz, I hope you never find yourself in this position.  If you do, however, I shall be the first to treat you with grace and kindness when you discover the harsh realities of the entire unemployed experience.   

Elizabeth my friend, I do not expect you to understand unless you go through this yourself.  I choose to accept your ignorance, but I do not accept your acerbic tone when you say, "In my opinion I think that a prospective employer would wonder what you have been doing this whole time that you have been unemployed, but I guess they could read your blog...."  How cold, cruel and heartless you seem.  It is as though you feel I spend my time in worthless pursuits.  How would you suggest I spend my time if I cannot get obtain a job, even just any job?  I am open to suggestions.

I would invite you, Elizabeth, to be part of the documentary I am making about the unemployed experience.  I value your perspective and should you like, I would very much like to interview you, in person (on film or not, your choice) and get your thoughts.  They are honest, authentic and valid questions that likely reflect the sentiments of the majority of the population who is blessed to not have to go through this experience.  If you are willing to be part of my project, please let me know.  Also, I appreciate that you have the balls to ask me those questions.

Warmest Regards,

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