faulker009

Saturday has quickly become my least favorite day of the week. Of course, when I working, the weekend used to be the best time – a time to catch up on the busy week and just enjoy the precious time with my wife and kids. Now, as a member of the unemployed, Saturday is a time to re-live the misery of the previous five days as we analyze my wounds. It usually starts first thing in the morning, with my wife going over a checklist of how the week went. Update on the kids. Check. Update on her work. Check. Maybe a chat about a movie or something in the news. Check. But the whole time, I hear a clock ticking in my head, like I am watching 60 Minutes. Then, as it always does, BOOM -- a bold , underlined , italicized reminder that I am unemployed. Let me make one point very clear, my wife has been the most supportive person during this miserable episode – constantly giving me a positive face and positive reminders of what we have. I know she means well and genuinely understands t...

Throughout my time as a member of the unemployed, I have had a very good support system. Between my wife, children, mom and a handful of very close friends, not too many days have gone by without a pep talk. I think I’ve heard every cliche in the pep talk handbook, from “just be patient” to “it’s not your fault, the economy is bad” to “nobody hires during December.” “Something good is going to happen.” I’m not sure where I can re-fill my prescription for a bottle of faith, but for the most part all the pep talks must be working. I’m still standing, right? Well, this morning I woke up to the extended re-mix version of the pep talk. “This is going to be our year.” Ok, where do I sign? For 45 minutes my loving wife reminded me that I am good at what I do, reminded me that I have a wife and three children who love me and most of all reminded me that I was still unemployed. Of course the last part wasn’t her intention, but as anybody who goes through a breakup knows, it doesn’t ta...