Greetings all. In case you don't recognize it, the title of today's post comes from an old Replacements song. I've been singing it a lot since last December. Seems like a lot of people have. I've gotten several letters like the one below... but I think one is enough to prove the point.
Dear ASK A PUNK-
I just lost my job four months ago. Luckily my expenses and lifestyle cost next to nothing so I’ve been able to survive this long, but not for much longer. In another month seriously – I’ll have to move out of the apartment I share because I probably won’t be able to cover my half of the rent. Then I’m back to sleeping on friend’s couches. Luckily I’m not a jerk, so I have friends… but even that won’t last forever. Move back home with the parents? That would mean an 800 mile move away from my friends, life and any hopes of finding a new job. I’m not someone who should be looking at sleeping in his car. I have schooling and skills and a resume… but things are grim out here. I don’t go to shows. I don’t do anything these days because I’ve got no money. and I mean no money. less every day. I know all you can say is ‘get a job’ but I’m trying…what do I do in the meantime as my options keep drying up as fast as my bank account? How do I keep positive? - jobless
Dear Jobless -
Have you been reading my diary? If we were face-to-face I could say “join the club” and we could share a grim and half-hearted backslap. The truth is, you’re already doing everything I would suggest, and have been doing myself… cutting every conceivable expense, looking for work and hoping for the best. I know moving home to the folks would certainly be a momentum-killer for you, so do try to avoid that step. If you’re the non-jerk you profess to be then your friend’s couches should be available to you for longer than you might think… and it might not even come to that. If you fear you’re working your way down the socio-economic ladder, be sure you’re just looking down one rung at a time.
These are dark, difficult days, and even people like yourself (and myself) with skills & resumes are taking a beating due to forces that were/are largely out of our control. We can curse that fate and the people that ARE responsible for it (and believe me, I do) but we also have to keep an eye out for the chances and jobs that still remain. We have to believe things are going to get better for us individually and for our society, otherwise my only advice would be to stock up on bullets and water purification equipment…although I’m still fairly convinced that it won’t come to THAT any time soon… in other words, I’ve purchased the purification equipment, but I’m holding off on the bullets... for now.
I hope I’m not sounding vacuous and rah-rah about all this. I just know that mentally going the other way leads to the abyss. We owe it to ourselves to keep swimming against the current, especially when we fear we’re circling the drain. Remember, 95% of HUMANITY still had a worse day than you did today. I keep telling myself that… you should too.
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