Getting an unemployment check is a lot like surviving a car crash with injuries. Yeah, you’re happy you’ve survived, but it would be nice to be able to walk without crutches soon.
I’m not sure who these people paying off their trips to India with their unemployment checks are, but they sound nothing like the ones I know who have lost their jobs and can barely get by with unemployment.
They’re not kicking back and letting the government “spoil” them. It would be hard to do so when the amount they’re getting can’t even give them a month’s worth of mayonnaise sandwiches.
For those getting enough to afford meat, they’re conserving their funds and actively searching for a job. Those on unemployment have had to learn to get creative with their money. No one wants to lose their home, or enter delinquent status on their bills.
I haven’t heard much in terms of those receiving aid feeling guilty about it either. Folks would rather simply still have their jobs.
To be fair, I know of one person in particular who lost their job, collects unemployment, and has more of an active social life than I do – and I have a couple of gigs. I wish they would use part of their check to buy some ambition.
And yes, there are those that refuse to get “creative” in their career searches – abandoning the notion that the end justifies the means. I myself responded with a blank stare when someone suggested my tall, lanky self put my keyboard down for a while and become a juvenile detention officer. But, I was actively looking for work in my chosen field.
Make no mistake: I will never deny that many of my generation behave like spoiled brats with false senses of entitlement. Yet, I find that person with no ambition and the others like them to be in the minority.
Everyone else I know is petrified about not finding another job by the time their government allowance expires. As jobless claims continue to rise, they have reason to fear.
Are you receiving unemployment? If so, share your story with me at therecessiondiaries@gmail.com.
Michael Arceneaux hails from Houston, lives in Harlem and praises Beyoncé’s name wherever he goes. Follow him on Twitter.