Hallelujah! I Got Paid

"Hallelujah! I Got Paid" should be my jump-up-and-down mantra after 6 weeks, but instead, it all just went to straight to bills, of course. Worse still, I feel somewhat guilty for not having another job by now. It is a ridiculous statement to feel guilty about accepting Unemployment Benefits in Michigan under the current circumstances since I have paid into that system for years. And it does sound rather old fashioned, but is a nagging feeling for someone who does not relish "getting away with things". That's it, you know, it feels like getting away with something. I do not like to get away with things. I want to be fair to others and have others be fair to me. So in one sentence, I have gone from semi-senior to child. Fair.

This poses an interesting question about the current rate of unemployment not only in Michigan, but nationwide. If there are millions of people collecting Unemployment Benefits for the first time in the USA, how many of those people will like "getting away with things"? How long will we all enjoy our 1/2 paid unemployment? Since you are job hunting, there are costs, of course, but they are nothing compared to going to work every day. It is going to have to be a much better job to tempt people out of the house. The biggest thing Michigan Unemployment has going for it is the waiting period. However, once you have waited, there is the feeling that you better not blow it by taking a job that is "less than" because you will be in for another interminable wait period should that job not work out.

This worries me for our country. And I feel guilty. And I hope there is a much better job around the corner for me, both in time and space. For the first time I wonder if I had health benefits, could I fall into a comfortable, less than half what I made existence? And if I could, how many others could and would and will? Are we going to have to be very creative as employers to lure back the employees?