[at-l] I Have This Friend

[infpeace at gmail.com (Nina)]

Oops, I hit "send" to soon.

Jim, there is a difference between a hike with some not-so-nice parts,
and a job that is just a bad fit all around. Big difference. Also, if
a job isn't particularly a stepping-stone to a "something better" that
the employee has in mind ... why stay there? Especially if you hate
it?

Also, job security isn't necessarily *having a job* ... it is the
ability to *get* a job. Big difference there, too.

Life is too short to spend it doing something you hate. Particularly
when a person, like this "friend" has no children to support and has
very few debts. I've seen too many people spend their lives at a job
they hated, only to retire at 62 and die at 63.

That's my $0.25. :-)

Waterfall


On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 21:27:09 -0500, Jim Bullard <jbullar1@twcny.rr.com> wrote:
> 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.
> 
> 


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