Bob Collins
A few weeks ago, I interviewed John Armstrong of St. Paul for the News Cut series, “The Unemployed.” He’s been out of work since February.
He describes himself as “sickeningly optimistic,” but even the most optimistic job-seekers in America can occasionally suffer the debilitating reality that the first question we’re asked when we meet people is “what do you do?”
Armstrong looks for work. “I identify myself by the job I want,” he told me over coffee this morning. “There’s still a little bit of shame over being unemployed, but lots of people have been through it.” At times over the last five months, he acknowledged, he’s felt that maybe he hasn’t been able to get a job because “I’m not good enough to be employed.”
Today, John writes, he got a new job. He starts next Monday. “It is a great relief to be able to call an end to the job search,” he said.
I’m looking for more people who are unemployed to profile. Perhaps it’s a sign of improving times that volunteers have been slow to come by in recent weeks.
