Mission Critical (Zero Hour)

Like all movie clichés where the end is near or all hope is lost so goes life in general. I'm being melodramatic but the reality of the situation is that I've been out of work since September of 2008 with no prospects of finding employment anytime soon, and it sucks. But this isn't anyone's fault but my own. Like many of the unemployed, I believed in the hype of the 90's where nothing could go wrong with the economy, with the job market, with the gas prices, with the world and it was all a pipe dream.

So here is a list of big mistakes I have made over the years which now result in me being unemployed now and in the foreseeable future.

1) Education

I've had numerous chances over the years to obtain a quality education in a blossoming field and instead chose poorly. That's not to say I'm not educated. I have an associates degree and I'm learned in many skills. Sadly, most of those skills cant be quantified on a resume. Other skills are self taught and don't carry a certificate or degree to back them up. So, I'm educated, but you wouldn't notice it by looking at my resume, which, by the way, my wife tells me looked horrible until she recently overhauled it. Well that explains much of the past year.

2) Poor Choices

By poor choices, I mean things that you did or could of done that hold power over you long after they were done. Here's some that come to mind. One, committing a felony at age 17. No brainer there. Whenever you get yourself in legal trouble you have to look forward to checking that box on all future job applications. Two, I turned down an opportunity to work for General Motors. Years ago I had a chance at getting in and set it aside out of pride and laziness. Now that's not to say that my life would be any different, GM is having a tough time right now, but turning down any job that pays what GM pays is just dumb, even if I felt it was beneath me. As it is now, Cleaning toilets isn't beneath me and if it paid better than unemployment, I'd be scrubbing gas station toilets right now. Three, not dealing with my Mother's death. Mom died when I was 14 years old and it wasn't until a few years ago did I realize the depressive state it put me in for years. I was numb and dumb for a great deal of years. My wife pointed out that I might want to see a counselor about it a few years ago. Now I don't think that it is necessary now, but it probably was at the time. I imagine if I had my head on straight after her death, I may have not of made some of these poor choice.

3) Lack of Follow Through.

Now, I could do a poll right now and chances are that all my friends and family would say unequivocally that I would do anything for them. I would go the extra mile to help out. I'd loan my last dollar if you needed it more than I, then I'd drive you to wherever you needed to spend it. But when it comes to myself, I usually stop mid stream. I'm notorious at starting a project and stopping half way though. This isn't a problem if it's just an idle pleasure like painting or reading a book, but it's a lot more serious when it comes to pestering employers for work or calling back on a resume. Sadly, it's gotten worse. The few times I have called back or talked to someone or received a response, it's all for an unpleasant outcome. Doesn't give you much hope to try harder the next time.

I'd like to think that it's just me, but it isn't. There isn't a week that goes by that I don't talk to someone who has it worse, or just as bad. Everyone is hurting right now, but what scares me is when the job market turns around and everyone is back to work, I'm still gonna be sitting at home washing dishes or doing laundry while looking through the classified ads wondering when it's gonna be my turn.

"Like sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives" -- My life as a soap.

Mike