My usual Sunday routine is to pour myself a mug of Irish tea, flip on the CBS Sunday Morning show and file for unemployment on my MAC. However, tomorrow will be different. The bank is empty. I will be one of the 3.2 million people hoping that the Senate does pass the extension bill on Tuesday, now that we have the 60th vote from the new interim West VA Senator, Carte Goodwin.  If for some reason, I don’t get my extension – then what? What can I do to find a job that is any different from what I have been doing these past 18 months?

I have networked, updated my resume, crafted individual cover letters, attended job fairs, worked with the counselor from the New York State Unemployment office and have tried to be optimistic that there is something out there for me. It is embarrassing and and yes, sometimes I even feel ashamed that  I haven’t found anything yet. I keep coming back to the line from the movie “The Wrestler” when Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson says to his daughter “And now, I’m an old broken down piece of meat… and I’m alone.”

Lucky for me, I’m not alone. I stand with my fellow unemployed Americans and try to keep my head up, ignore the slings from certain groups that we all could have a job if we really wanted to.