One Among Many

I know I am just one more of the millions of Americans out of work, so what. I realized something this morning: there isn't really a voice for all of us out there. I read the news and I see journalists listing off reasons why the economy is improving but jobs are still scarce. I see articles explaining how to keep one's skills relevant, the best interview techniques, how to land that next best gig. All of this is meaningless to me. I have been doing all the things that everyone says I should, and still there is no job for me, no job for you. We are stuck here, in this morass, floating away our twenties and thirties, sitting in our parents' attics or basements wondering when we will get our lives back. Our educations don't seem to matter anymore. I often wonder, even if I did have a graduate degree, would it help? There are plenty of unemployed MBAs and JDs out there. What can we do? What should we do? It seems that this high rate of unemployment is here to stay. Those of us with the misfortune of being caught out in the cold in our unmentionables are not likely to be invited back inside to the warmth of the middle class abode and a “secure” corporate career. We can push away our feelings of loss and rejection, we can ignore the reality of what we face, but what will it change? Can we ignore what is happening to us any longer? Of course not. But the question remains: what can we do about it? The frustrating answer is that on the surface it appears there is nothing for us to do but simply keep trying. But what if there is something we can do…