Five Things I Learned Being Unemployed

Ever since the economy turned to shit back in 2008 I’ve been half employed. Yeah, I have a job but its never permanent. Working as an assistant editor I can go from job to job but I cant at this point in my life say that I have a full time job. During these last four years I have been unemployed and from November 2008 to February 2010 did not have a job. That was one of the most difficult parts of my life and something I wish to never repeat.

I learned a lot of shit when I wasn’t working about my friends, my spending habits, my mind, and myself. Earlier this year there was a two month period where I didn’t have a job and started to feel myself slip back into that unemployed mind state and realized that I needed to shut that shit down immediately. I didn’t but I did have help from friends. Here is a list of five things I learned while being unemployed. Hope it helps some of you out and me if I ever end up not working again.

1. Boredom And Depression Will Be Your Enemy Along With The EDC. 

If you didn’t have a hobby before not working then its gonna be glaringly obvious when you don’t have a job. Find shit to do. Look at how many blogs I wrote in 2009 on this site. Almost 300 of them because I had a lot of extra time. If your hobbies are things that require money, do something else. Some people stop working and think they can keep living the same lifestyle. I did for the first few months because I’m an idiot and thought I wouldn’t have a job for maybe a month at the most. That didn’t happen and my brain went bonkers.

The depression was bad. I absolutely felt like a worthless piece of shit for the longest time. There’s nothing like hanging out with friends or dating someone and knowing that when you leave the house you cant pay for anything. This is when learning how to do things for free helps. At one point I had only 38 cents to my name. That’s it. That realization can be very, very sobering. One thing you have to learn how to also do is not constantly bitch. If you don’t have the money to hang out, guess what? You stay home. Reminding your friends who know you aren’t employed and broke when they know you are unemployed and broke gets old really fast. So stop saying it.

The EDC, aka unemployment, is a bitch. I made every single wrong move in dealing with them ranging from sending forms too early, too late, not checking the right box, owing them money, them owning me money, and being sent letters telling me I had no funds when I had thousands left. I learned so much about these people that when friends started losing their jobs I could help them avoid all my pitfalls.

2. Keep Daily Goals. 

You cant just wake up, realize that you’re broke and unemployed, and sit there just thinking about it. Get your ass up and walk around. For the first few months I would have a social life and then eventually I was like “Its all downhill from here…” I had to start doing something with the extra forty some odd extra hours I had. I started writing and drawing more. Also doing podcasts where I got to vent to the world helped me mentally. I knew that before I went to sleep the following evening that something had to have been accomplished in my world.

The worst thing I did was not get anything done but fret about not being productive. I knew it was bad when I went an entire week without ironing clothes or leaving my house except to take out trash which there wasn’t much of since there was barely any food in the fridge.

3. Fix Your Resume. 

I know this one sounds obvious but its really important. I have copies of my old resumes and they are so bad. I haven’t had a ton of jobs since I stayed at them for years but I would cram so much useless ass information on one sheet of paper. I would apply to jobs in an office and brag about my porn slanging skills. Why? Because I’m stupid. If you’re applying to an office job don’t talk about being the best cashier ever. Yes, I did that as well.

Now I have different resumes for different jobs that I can apply to. With all my random things I have done from moving corpses to selling dog food I have managed to learn a lot of random shit that has helped me deal with people at my current and future jobs. My resume now reflects that and so should yours.

4. Pride Is Another Thing You Cant Afford. 

I seriously didn’t know how strong my pride was until I was broke. I would turn down hanging out with friends offering to take me out to eat and have fun because I stayed at home eating Top Ramen for three weeks straight and didn’t want anyone to help me. “I’m a grown ass man and should be able to take care of myself!” Meanwhile I couldn’t stand up straight without getting dizzy because my blood was half sodium. I believed that I would make it without anyone’s help.

Looking back now I know how stupid I was being. I was sitting at home sad, angry, bored, and hungry because I couldn’t admit that I needed help. Be it from friends, the government, or organizations I would turn it down as much as possible. A friend told me about an organization called SOVA that gave food to people that needed it. I felt bad seeing people leave with boxes of food or people that looked close to homeless getting food to survive. Was I as bad off as them? No. Was I bad? Yes. I went there once and got enough food to last a month and later donated to them once I started working. I had to learn how to get over myself.

Do I consider myself a strong person? Yeah, I do. But I had to learn that I needed help, that it was available, and how to ask for it. It was childish to put myself through the shit I did because of my old thoughts. Don't think that you're too cool for help like I did. Pretty sure I shaved years off my life with stress. Pride will bite you in the ass if you let it.

5. Have Good Friends.

This is one of the most important ones. No matter how you are feeling just knowing that there is someone there to help pick you up is an beautiful thing. Whether its with time, an ear, money, or a laugh, its so damned important to be around people who aren't going to let you get yourself too down. Yes, you will still reach levels of low that you didn't even know you could reach but good people will be there to pick you up. If you haven't chased them away.

Being unemployed is also a good way to figure out who your real friends are. You have to be careful though. Remember all that bitching I was talking about earlier? Yeah. That shit can drive even the most patient of friends away. When people know your spiel before you even open your mouth that doesn't mean they know you well. That means they know the drill. I had some people stop talking to me or lose touch with me when I wasn't working because I wasn't super happy fun time Dante. I was one more bad day away from slashing my throat Dante and that version of me isn't particularly fun to be around.

I would get frustrated at times with friends who would ask me if I looked for work not knowing that I had spent eight hours looking online or talking to places feeling like an ass because I was applying for jobs I would never want to work at to make enough for a 99 Cent Store shopping spree of $20. But my actual friends knew that I wasn't sitting at home happy to not work. Not having a job when you know you are able bodied and willing to work will turn you into a bitch factory and you need to be wise enough to know when to reign that complaining in when you can. Even the best of friends can get sick of hearing that shit.

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