No Better Time than June 29, 2009 for Becoming Unemployed

Or at least that’s my current operating theory. It was interesting to see how various people at work reacted to the news. Some surprised, some not so much. Me? Not surprised…

Jadedly,

bkd

No Better Time than Now for Being Unemployed

The way I figure it, the problem with being unemployed isn’t as much the lack of means — somehow that’s going to work out — but the deprecation of social standing. So if you’re going to be unemployed, better to do it during a time when a lot of other people are also out of work, since that way your situation seems considerably more tenable.

Was reading the first chapter of a book about the Battle of Wake Island last night and in that chapter was related the story of a marine who, when he was ten years old, got a too-big-for-him used bike for Christmas and was overjoyed. Kids today wouldn’t likely react similarly. Why? Because their friends are getting brand new bikes every couple of years. The difference for the marine, of course, was that he was a kid during the depression, when not every kid on the street was lucky enough to have a bike of his own.

Not only that, but also from a future employment standpoint, getting laid off when everyone else does is vastly advantageous. Looking at the resume of a person who got laid off in 2009 during the economy’s nadir will raise no alarms — plenty of companies are going belly-up or shuttering business units or making across-the-board cuts in staff. Looking at the resume of someone who got “laid off” in 2004? Red flag. What could someone have possibly done to deserve that in ’04?

Same with getting your house foreclosed on. Imagine the embarrassment someone would have to feel if they got their house foreclosed on in 2004. The house’s “value” increasing exponentially, economy booming, and yet… I mean, there seems little likelihood of someone who got foreclosed on in ’04 would ever admit having been foreclosed on in ’04. Foreclosed on today? You’re the hot new thing. Foreclosed on tomorrow? You’ll be one of the guys. Maybe you can get a class action suit together.

Just sayin’.

bkd

(Oh, plus it’s good to be on the take when the left is ascendant.)