...SUCKS! I have been unemployed for a little over a year (about 15 months) and it's been a tough ride! I have taken a $1,000 cut in finances per month being on UI benefits. I get $168 a month for food. I am a single parent. My bills include(d) rent, utilities, cell phone, personal loans, student loans, car note, gas, life insurance, car insurance, car maintenance, cable, internet, and miscellaneous items (daughter's uniforms, school supplies, hygiene, etc.). With budgeting and extremely careful spending, I have been able to maintain my home, I paid off my car, all my bills are on time, a couple of bills are in deferment, and within a year, I have needed sincere help twice.
Yes, I am on government assistance. However, I am NOT lazy. I look for work EVERY DAY including Sundays. It is VERY discouraging. I am either overqualified or underqualified, never just qualified. I don't speak Spanish (which apparently is becoming more of a requirement than a preference). I am 30 years old, graduated from college at 22, and began working in my career at 23, which means I have about 6 years of work experience under my belt. With that being said, employers feel that I don't have enough experience. The area of Texas I live in is relatively small compared to metroplexes such as the Houston area or DFW area which means jobs are slimmer.
Why don't I just move?
I have a lease that I'm not willing to break. It ends in December. My goal is that if I don't find a job in my hometown between now and the beginning of December, I will relocate to Dallas. Because I am a single parent, I have to plan this accordingly because I can't uproot my daughter without a plan in place.
People who have jobs and never had to struggle seem to look down on those on welfare. Not everyone on welfare abuses the system or is content living off of it. I know I am not. I love being independent and being able to do for myself as a result of my hard work. I have fallen on hard times but I have absolutely no intent on being down for much longer. It's ridiculous how people talk down on those who need extra help. The interesting thing about poverty and/or being unemployed is that it doesn't discriminate. Those people who feel they are secured in their jobs have not an inkling that they could be next in the welfare line. Those who make laws and policies regarding unemployment also are so disconnected to the struggle people like myself have.
This is the longest I have ever been unemployed since the day I started working at 16. It's frustrating spending this much time on welfare when I am capable of so much more. All I know is that within 6 months, I will be working again. So by April 2013, I will be employed. Watch me.
Yes, I am on government assistance. However, I am NOT lazy. I look for work EVERY DAY including Sundays. It is VERY discouraging. I am either overqualified or underqualified, never just qualified. I don't speak Spanish (which apparently is becoming more of a requirement than a preference). I am 30 years old, graduated from college at 22, and began working in my career at 23, which means I have about 6 years of work experience under my belt. With that being said, employers feel that I don't have enough experience. The area of Texas I live in is relatively small compared to metroplexes such as the Houston area or DFW area which means jobs are slimmer.
Why don't I just move?
I have a lease that I'm not willing to break. It ends in December. My goal is that if I don't find a job in my hometown between now and the beginning of December, I will relocate to Dallas. Because I am a single parent, I have to plan this accordingly because I can't uproot my daughter without a plan in place.
People who have jobs and never had to struggle seem to look down on those on welfare. Not everyone on welfare abuses the system or is content living off of it. I know I am not. I love being independent and being able to do for myself as a result of my hard work. I have fallen on hard times but I have absolutely no intent on being down for much longer. It's ridiculous how people talk down on those who need extra help. The interesting thing about poverty and/or being unemployed is that it doesn't discriminate. Those people who feel they are secured in their jobs have not an inkling that they could be next in the welfare line. Those who make laws and policies regarding unemployment also are so disconnected to the struggle people like myself have.
This is the longest I have ever been unemployed since the day I started working at 16. It's frustrating spending this much time on welfare when I am capable of so much more. All I know is that within 6 months, I will be working again. So by April 2013, I will be employed. Watch me.
Poor Rich Man:
Disheveled and homeless, laying on the street,
They walk on past, stepping over his feet.
Noses in the air, disgust cloud their senses,
Looking at the homeless like public offenses.
Not knowing that he once before had it all
But it was so long ago, he struggles to recall.
He lost his six figure job and all of his money.
He didn’t invest so he feels like a dummy.
Met with foreclosures and many repossessions,
He hit the bottle and fell into depression.
Poverty sadly doesn’t have a face.
Any one of you could be in his place.
They walk on past, stepping over his feet.
Noses in the air, disgust cloud their senses,
Looking at the homeless like public offenses.
Not knowing that he once before had it all
But it was so long ago, he struggles to recall.
He lost his six figure job and all of his money.
He didn’t invest so he feels like a dummy.
Met with foreclosures and many repossessions,
He hit the bottle and fell into depression.
Poverty sadly doesn’t have a face.
Any one of you could be in his place.
~Constance G.
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