Two full days have passed now since I filled out my application for Jobseekers Allowance and at the end of the online process, the message read that a representative at my local office would be in touch within two working days to arrange a ‘jobseekers interview’. Now, I’m not usually one to be cynical, but perhaps my ‘local office’ is a tad behind as a result of the thousands of people the government have recently laid off? Hmmmn. Just a thought.
In my humble opinion however, the public sector is extremely overcrowded. I get the impression that front-line hospital staff are overworked and under-resourced and that the Police probably have the most thankless task on the planet. The council however was certainly top-heavy in hierarchical structure and whilst there were many that worked their butts off and completed sterling work, there were just as many lazy gits. Changes simply had to be made and inevitably, job cuts were always the way forward.
Having said that, let’s break down my lack of contribution toward the economy this week.
I haven’t worked for the four business days during this week and during that time, I haven’t travelled to work. Hence forth, I haven’t put any diesel in to my car. I’ve had a solid diet of beans and/or scrambled eggs on toast for my lunch and thus, I haven’t been spending the usual £3 per day on dinners at my favourite sandwich shop. In a regular working week I’d surely buy a least one luxury item – perhaps a new cardie from Topman, a DVD from Asda, cosmetics from Boots or maybe even something special for the weekend. It’s the January sales so I’m almost certain that I’d have treated myself in some way. Finally, let’s add on a couple of newspapers, a lunchtime coffee with a friend, and as there’s a couple of decent movies out, I’ll be really extravagant (!) and take a trip to the flicks too.
Even without the impulse buy, the Topman treat or the trip to the cinema, we’re looking at a modest weekly spend of around £50. Not a great deal in real terms, but multiply this by the thousands upon thousands who are sailing in the same boat as me, add on the Jobseekers Allowance, throw in a few thousand other benefits that many are entitled to, add on the redundancy pay-outs and then mix-in the unpaid loans, mortgage repayments and overdraft charges. It's a pretty grim outlook for our economy.
For obvious reasons, I have to be super careful with my finances at the moment and so, I’ve hardly spent a bean all week. A few beers certainly wouldn’t go amiss at the moment though!
One of the most frustrating points of the last 24 hours lay at the door of the Lancashire Telegraph. It was 9:45 last night before I realised that Thursday was ‘jobs day’ in the local rag. Naturally, I quickly slipped on my jacket and plimsolls and hot-footed it up to the nearest 24-hour garage. Imagine my disappointment when I find just 8 ‘real’ jobs over just two pages. I’m classing a ‘real’ job as one that is actually full-time, not pro-rata or job-share, not ‘term-time only’ and not purely commission-based. Of those eight jobs, three were sales positions with Newsquest (the company that owns the paper), two were senior management/director posts and one was a specialist position that required specific qualifications. This left two positions and despite my lack of
suitability for them, I’ll be applying for them both.
The theme of day-disorientation continued when on my Facebook feed, friends old and new proclaimed their excitement of having that ‘Friday feeling’. But, when your working week has failed to even start of course, that feeling unfortunately ceases to exist.
I completed one online job application today but received zero job-related letters, e-mails or phone calls. The remainder of the day was filled with two meetings with old acquaintances - one of which opened up some really exciting blue-sky-thoughts for the bar project, although I’ll save this information for Monday’s blog! In the meantime, I’ve got a full weekend to mull over the permutations and possibilities of a potential partnership.
I’ll leave you though with my final thoughts and the reason for the title of today’s blog.
On Friday the 7th of January 2010, I find myself at a total crossroads in life. I’m 30 years old, I’m unemployed and rather embarrassingly, I live at home with my Mum. …Bit of a loser really? On the plus side, I’ve got my health, a fantastic family, a loving girlfriend, some great pals and a half-decent head on my shoulders.
Financially I don’t have any debt, I’m not committed to a mortgage, I’m not married and I don’t have any children. In that respect, there’s nothing at all to tie me to my home town and nothing to stop me from spreading my wings. In essence, I could attempt to re-ignite my life in any town or city across the country, or indeed, anywhere in the world.
I really feel that the world is my oyster and with nothing to anchor me down, there’s a million things I would be prepared to try out and I’d be happy to take a good job with prospects anywhere in the world. Yet, with no money in the bank, no formal qualifications and nowhere to run to, I actually feel that I’m chained to the ground.
In any case - would ‘running away’ from the source of my problem (i.e. unemployment) solve it? Would being away from my friends and family and all the things I’ve ever known make things even harder? Or would it focus the mind on the golden goal of securing a life-time career, which in turn might help secure the other pieces of my life’s jigsaw in to place?
The old saying goes “If it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it”.
But on the flipside, if the last 12 years of my working life has resulted in going around in circles and has ultimately proved unsuccessful, is that a clear sign that I should try and break the cycle? Perhaps go back to school to study a specialism? Perhaps try to be my own boss and throw the dice at a business gamble? Maybe rent a box-room and take a job in the big city? Or perhaps jump on a plane and follow the fairytale in search of a Hollywood-style happy ending?
The journey continues. And for now, my head really hurts.
Many blessings to you all
Jason
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