Sunday mornings are humbling times. It's when I and many other Virginians file our weekly claims for unemployment benefits. Apparently, even though my regular 26 weeks of payments have been exhausted, I have to continue filing in order to qualify for an extension, which is probably still weeks away. In the meantime, there is no money coming in and a lot of savings going out.
Unemployment takes a little bit of the joy out of everything. The opening day of the football season isn't quite the same this year. There are bigger worries than who wins the Giants-Redskins game to deal with. I am spilling my own blood, in a way, and am not all that enthusiastic about watching others on the gridiron doing the same. But I will watch the game, and it will serve as somewhat of a distraction, hopefully.
Sometimes the worries are on the surface, while other times they are just a dull hum in the background of my thoughts. It's like walking through life waiting on the lab results from a biopsy on a tumor. You don't know whether the tumor is benign and something you can live with, or whether it's something that may eventually kill you.
Being unemployed, per se, isn't the worst of it. Being ignored by employers is what really bothers and mystifies me. It defies logic, regardless of the state of the economy. It robs unemployed folks of hope. If I was at least getting interviews now and then, I could believe that eventually I would be employed again. Without those interviews, or even phone calls or e-mail responses, it is quite a leap of faith to think that things will turn for the better.
The confidence I once had that I would eventually find another job has faded considerably. I applied to the perfect job recently. Perfect in terms of matching up with my experience and skills to the work. It was a job in which I had every single qualification they required. And it was a long list of diverse requirements. Yet, I met or exceeded all of them. I really wanted to interview for this job, despite it probably paying half of what I previously earned. I made it clear in my cover letter that salary was not an issue for me.
The job was local, so I figured I would at least get an interview. But like with the hundreds of other jobs that I've applied for, I haven't heard back from the employer. I also have a way of determining whether this particular employer even looked at my resume. They didn't. I know I write competent cover letters, so why didn't this employer bother to review my resume? What did they detect that prevented from considering my qualifications?
It's a few hours until kickoff and the sun has returned to Northern Virginia today. I try to appreciate these simple things and live more in the moment, but I also know there is a dark cloud on horizon that is getting more difficult to ignore.
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