What's the phrase? "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger?" I can not even summon up the strength right now to justify that quote anymore. It's frustrating how glibly people state it. Or how patronizing they sound when they make the statement after they learn you have NOT yet landed a full-time permanent job. "How long as it been again?" they ask and stare incredulously. Sure I'm working part-time and am extremely lucky if leads to 16 hours a week, but this is not my plan or my dream.
Seeking work in NYC is exhausting. Its a daily hustle. When my unemployment insurance ran out, I found myself scrambling even more, doing odd jobs here and there, doing things I would never in a million years had imagined in order to keep some money coming in. One family member pulls me aside and tells me she would work at McDonald's if need be to keep a roof over her daughter's head -- little does she know McDs thinks I'm "overqualified" ha! so does Macy's, T.J. Maxx and Marshall's even if I did apply just prior to the holiday season. Finally I've just opted to volunteer and keep volunteering and at least hoping that one of these gigs will lead to a paying one.
The New York Times recently posted an article about the people affected once their benefits run out -- yeah, we hear daily how the unemployment rent has gone down. Hello, it just means they are NOT collecting unemployment insurance, seriously how many of those can honestly claim they are collecting wages every two weeks from a solid job?
Check out the article by Anny Lowrey, Benefits Ending for One Million Unemployed on NYT.com. Happy new year everyone, what other good news do we have to look forward to?
