Lonely times

The New York Times recently conducted a poll of unemployed Americans and found a lot of obvious answers. I should add here that they didn't call me.

"The results of the poll ... help to lay bare the depth of the trauma experienced by millions across the country who are out of work as the jobless rate hovers at 10 percent and, in particular, as the ranks of the long-term unemployed soar.

"Roughly half of the respondents described the recession as a hardship that had caused fundamental changes in their lives. Generally, those who have been out of work longer reported experiencing more acute financial and emotional effects."

Uhhhhh, yeah? That's news?

Well, maybe a story such as this is important because it explains the daily emotional toll experienced by, we, the jobless. That is what I hoped this blog would achieve, although we've definitely taken a few interesting detours along the way. Many of us -- including myself -- are beginning to feel hopeless about the job situation, and we're wondering what the endgame is. All the encouragement in the world won't help until we're punching the clock again. In fact, this quote by a 51-year-old unemployed woman from Wisconsin says it all.

"Everything gets touched. All your relationships are touched by it. You’re never your normal happy-go-lucky person. Your countenance, your self-esteem goes. You think, ‘I’m not employable.’"

The story and poll numbers are a stark look at the emotional toll of being unemployed. Maybe it's just too obvious for me because I feel the same secluded sadness as that woman. But it also heartening to know you're not alone.