beef: its whats for dinner.

so i have a serious problem with the current state of this economy. (who would have thought!) let me explain my ever so simple beef:

i understand that i am going to graduate at one of the worst economic times to graduate in the past 60 years. i understand that because of this, there are not as many job openings or availabilities and that i might not be able to find a job that i like or even dont like. but here is the thing. My parents, your parents, they should be able to keep their jobs. They arnt asking to retire and live off their social security, they have already come to terms with the fact that they dont even have that option. They are 60 years old and they just want to work to bring home a paycheck. They want to pay their bills and keep their homes. They have committed 30+ years to the community workforce and they are just asking for the status quo. This. Is. Not. Fair. Yes, i know, life is not fair, but the thing is that there has to be a better answer for these people. They have done whatever was asked of them to support their families: gone to college and worked hard all of their lives, they have worked locally and contributed to their their community and economy, they have made smart choices and all they are asking is the ability to provide for their families. The last thing they want is to ever have to tell their children that they can not support them, that they can no longer help them because they cant help themselves. It just isnt sufficient to say that they have gotten themselves into this and to sit back and watch things bounce back. Things arnt going to bounce back for these people. They are loosing the jobs they rely on to support themselves, and the homes they raised their families in. And they can not find work elsewhere, it is simply, for the moment, non-existent.

Anyway, my career advisor told me to take comfort in the fact that i am not alone in not finding a job. Personally my parents have not lost their jobs, but no child should have to tell her parents that to make them feel better because they have.

One thing i can note: In my job searching, I can not find anything i am qualified for. It has become clear to me (thank you NPR) that because thousands of people are getting layed off, the few positions that suprisingly are available and i actually am qualified for are getting filled with my highly-qualified, layed off neighbors. Which i agree should be the case, given that i just ranted about all those people getting layed off in the first place. But that just leaves me jobless.

.........and why cant i go meditate on a farm for the summer???