NP: Cowboys vs. Broncos

I've been fascinated by some of the more human-interest stories that have come out of the mainstream media about unemployment and the recession. Part of me wants to mock tales of liberal arts graduates without hard skills "discovering" that they can build up experience by actually doing things, but then I remember that these are, essentially, kids learning life lessons that tend to miss you in college. So if you can get over the urge to impart a whiny tone of privilege to the narrative, it's not so bad.

Last month, a bigger Times feature talked to four different people who had essentially given up looking for work, and while you do feel for the two older men looking for work, when one of them compares the process to getting rejected when you ask the head cheerleader for a date, you can't help but wonder if maybe he's barking up the wrong trees. It damages any sympathy you might feel when you read that he does seem to be stuck in a career path for an industry that's been hit particularly hard.

The other two stories in that piece seem more grounded in reality, or maybe I just identify with them more due to age and circumstance. Suspending your job search so you don't burn out while there aren't any good jobs available is worthwhile if you can get away with it, and doing what little things you can to keep busy and generate whatever cash flow might be available is another thing I've always been able to do and sometimes take for granted.

Of course, not everyone can afford to be so brutally realistic about their prospects at any given time, and not everyone has other skills they can monetize, so I try to empathize with those that are actively fighting against malaise.

I'm lucky in that I am the only person depending on my income, and that's been a strategic advantage under the circumstances. And it's probably because I've been here before that I absolutely believe I can and will find work. Last time it took almost two years for me to bounce back and find not just a job, but the right job given my background, and back then I wasn't sitting on the savings I have this time.

Almost six months to the day since departing the full-time workforce, I feel like I've cobbled together at least a workable temporary solution, starting this week with one part-time job, two freelance projects and some investment in a somewhat ambitious career change opportunity. So I have a sense that a corner is being turned (and so does the guy who has said very loudly that my line of work is extremely valuable), it's just a matter of whether it's just me, or if I've got all of these people in these stories in tow.