[at-l] I Have This Friend

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 08:55 PM 3/28/2005 -0500, Nina wrote:
>So, like, I have this friend. She's really cool and nice and all.
>
>She really hates her job and is planning to resign in the very, very,
>VERY near future. Then, she heard that, like, she might get laid off
>anyway, but she doesn't know if it'll be next week or next month, or
>in six months. So she's wondering if she should just wait it out so
>she can get unemployment, or if she should, like, hand in the
>resignation letter this week as planned. If she stays at the job much
>longer though, she'll end up in, like, the loony bin or something.
>Really.
>
>What does this have to do with hiking? Well, this friend, she's a
>REALLY COOL hiker who is planning on a two-week AT hike between her
>last day at work and Trail Days. Then she's gonna look for a job after
>that. And if she waits to get laid off, she might not end up having
>time to do that hike. And if she can't do a somewhat lengthy hike
>soon, then, well, maybe y'all can visit her in the state mental
>hospital or something. She'll be the one with the straightjacket.
>
>Any suggestions/advice?
>
>Waterfall

Having worked for DOL including many years in Unemployment Insurance I feel 
somewhat qualified to respond. Can she afford to live between this job and 
the one after TD without UI benefits? If yes, what's her problem? Go for 
it. OTOH if she can't afford that and/or isn't certain of getting another 
job right off then she doesn't have much choice but to stick it out. In any 
case a basic requirement of eligibility for UI benefits is that you are 
ready, willing and able to work. That is not true if you are off hiking so 
she would not be eligible while hiking but could resume her claim after the 
hike if she hadn't quit and was otherwise eligible and entitled (her UI 
office can explain the difference).
Of course with the phone filing systems that most states use now it is 
fairly easy to lie about being ready, willing and able but I'm not big on 
lying and if she tries phoning her weekly claim from a different state than 
the one she files against, it may not work anyway. They set up the call-in 
numbers to only accept calls from within state.

So what's her problem with this job? One thing I have observed re: 
surviving a job is the old adage "attitude is everything" or as Abe Lincoln 
said "Most people are as happy as they decide to be". One thing I'd like to 
see happen in this world where more people end up doing what they *need* to 
do for a living than those who get jobs doing what they *like* to do is a 
job counseling service that specialized in teaching people how to make the 
best of a mind/soul numbing job while working toward something more 
satisfying. I've seen too many people mess up their lives just because they 
couldn't stick out the unpleasant parts.

To relate this to the Trail, even if 'a bad day hiking *is* better than a 
good day at work' that is the same sort of attitude one needs to get 
through the no-so-nice parts of a hike.