'bout sums it up

sinking

Life still provides daily amusements, even as things become more desperate in my personal situation. I'm running out of energy with my endless job search. I'm weary of spending three hours on a cover letter and tailored resume for a $10/hour part time job. I'm discouraged by the total lack of response or acknowledgment to the hundreds of resumes I've sent out, unless it's by the craigslist scammers who prey on the poor and unemployed by placing fake job ads and insisting that you pay upfront for a credit check before you can get an interview. I'm angry about an economic environment that allows an employer to post a job requiring both swing and graveyard shifts, walking a total of 8 to 12 miles per shift, and availability seven days a week — for the princely sum of $9.50 an hour (security guard). This is fucked up, seriously fucked up.

I've been at this for well over two years now, and at this point I'm about ready to give up — and start working in the 'underground/unsavory trades', or jump on the disability bandwagon. I recently read that new disability claims are waaaaay up. There are no jobs, or jobs that pay a living wage. People are out of options, and survival mode starts to kick in. This is one of the unintended consequences of what the 1% have done to our economy, and if I can go either of these routes, trust me, I'm not going to feel bad about it. Never would have considered either ten years ago.

Remember the great lyrics from Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera (I personally like the Marc Blitzstein 1950s translation), in What Keeps a Man Alive, "for even honest folks can act like sinners, unless they've had their customary dinners" and try not to judge the impoverished class for trying to stay alive.

a reality for many