Drifting Along

Last July I lost my job. It was unfortunate that the partners I supported had no say in whether or not I had a job. I was told by a former co-worker that they were blindsided when they found out I had been let go. That decision had been made by someone in another state who knew nothing about what I did and who I supported. Heck, they'd never even met me.

I’d been with my company for over twenty years and thought, despite the situation with Covid-19, I’d be fine. I had glowing reviews; I was the office manager. I could do most anything anyone wanted. Whenever anyone needed something, no matter how big, how small or how strange the request was, they knew I would find a way to do it.

But all that changed quite literally overnight. One day I’d gone to bed and the next day I found I was unemployed. Oh sure, they gave me a decent severance package, but still it was quite a shock. I had anticipated being with my company until retirement age, which wasn’t too far down the road.

My first reaction, and probably a gut reaction, was to jump into the job market again. I signed up with sites like Indeed, Music Jobs and Zip Recruiter. I updated my LinkedIn profile. But I quickly came to realize that I was grossly overqualified for any of the jobs listed on their sites and they weren’t offering an equivalent salary.

If I searched for part-time jobs what I found was not paying more than what I could get in unemployment, even without the extra Covid money.

So, I decided to go about it another way and signed up with sites like Freelancer. Seemed good to me at the time, but the catch was I had to bid on jobs against hundreds of other equally qualified candidates, so the likelihood of being picked was very low. I did make a few dollars doing an editing job for someone, which I really enjoyed.

My husband suggested I bake and sell my cookies and breads, but after researching that, I found the New York State Cottage Law wouldn’t let me do it. For me to sell things I’d made at home I’d have to overcome all sorts of problems. Plus, the mailing costs would be prohibitive. So much for that idea.

When my severance pay ran out at the end of 2020, I filed for unemployment. Now that’s an adventure in itself. The website is deceptively simple, and I thought I was all set. But three weeks later nothing had come into my bank account. I called unemployment many times, only to be told by a recording that ‘all agents were busy’ and 'to please call again'. The only time I actually got through to a live human being was when I called immediately at 8 AM, when they opened.

Seems I hadn’t completed one small portion of the application, so it had been sitting on the website doing nothing while no one was bothering to tell me. If I hadn’t called, I would have never known. Now, almost a month after I first applied, still no money has come into my bank account and the website still says they are “working on it.” Yet the bills keep coming and must be paid. Not helpful at all.

It’s near impossible to get in touch with anyone at unemployment and then when you finally do, they are rude and unhelpful. It’s infuriating! By the time an application is approved, I’ll get is a huge lump sum of money, which is better than nothing I suppose. However, having it come in small amounts each month would have been better, since that’s how the bills come.

Luckily, I’ve saved and have a buffer. But it got me thinking - how do people with no money at all manage?

The good side of not being employed is that I have more time to devote to things I really love. It’s nice to not have to get up at 4 AM every day and commute to Manhattan. It’s nice to be able to spend more time writing. It’s nice to be able to bake more, although I really need to find people to eat the things I make, or a gym membership will be another expense I’ll incur! Once things become more ‘normal’ and the theaters open, I’ll resume my volunteer activity at the Met Opera. Now that is a big plus to being forcibly retired since I can spend more time there.

Finding another full-time job is out of the question. I have no desire to join ‘corporate America’ again, unless I find something that I know I’d really love. If Met Opera had a job for a personal assistant, I’d jump at it.

It’s a strange feeling being at home like this and at times I feel really lost. I’m longing for something to do, but at the same time I’m glad I don’t have anything to do. As things go, I suppose it’s not bad. Some people are far worse off than I am so I count my blessings. Meanwhile, I’m just drifting along day by day, happy I’m alive and well.

Update - A year later - Well, turned out being forcibly retired was the best thing that could have happened. I'm now working part-time at the Met Opera here in NYC and loving every minute of it. I also find that not having to get up at 4:30am every morning to make the trek into Manhattan is very nice. So, a big shout-out for the people who got rid of me. Thanks for giving me my life back!