Living La Vida Unemployed: Scared but Hopeful

In all of my years as a member of the workforce, I have never been without a job for more than a week.  I started working right out of high school and ever since then I have had a constant stream of employment that has kept me busy and my wallet not so empty.  I worked hard and long hours.  I was "taking care of business".  I was "workin' for the weekend" and all of those other clichés you can think of.  Work was never lacking and as I left one position for another with more responsibility, my income increased accordingly.  Not once did I ever have to take a job for less than what I was currently making.  Not once.  But my oh my how times have changed.

The markets have taken a nose dive into this seemingly bottomless pit of a recession.  People are in terror of losing their jobs, so they hold back and don't spend as much.  As a result, businesses begin to cut back because their revenues drop.  Stores close, plants shutdown, whole divisions of companies are either dismantled or scrapped and along with all that employees get sent home; pink slip in hand.  I am no economist and I'm pretty sure there's more to it than this but you get the picture.  It's a vicious cycle that feeds on itself and its main by-product is fear.

This is the fear that is brought about by uncertainty.  No human likes to be on shaky ground.  No one likes not being sure if they'll able to pay their mortgage next month.  No one likes having to make the choice between paying their light bill and buying the medicines they need.  No one likes having to take money from friends and relatives without having the slightest idea when or if they will be able to pay them back.  No, no one likes any of this stuff but it’s the reality that many of us are living today, myself included. 

We live in a world that totters between fear and hope.  Fear of what is to come, and hope in that what does come might be better than what we have now. 

Thanks to all for reading.  Good night and keep your hopes up.  I’ll try my best to do the same.  I’ll let you know what happens.