159 Good Things about Unemployment

159. Happy Independence Day! Enjoy the free fireworks. They are not the ones at your former workplace.  My 4th of July photo essay made the cover of Open Salon today: http://open.salon.com/blog/unemployedmarx/2010/06/28/life_liberty_the_pursuit_of_happiness_photo_gallery

158. Somebody always thinks you can be useful around the house. That's me on the ladder. I'd rather be loafing.

157. You go without underwear. We unemployed should try this. As we walk out of each interview, we will show our moon. What do you think? Shall we start a national trend that can be reported by Brad Tuttle in the TIME blog? Not wearing underwear is a cheapskate strategy recommended in the new book, The Ultimate Cheapskate, and reported by Tuttle, “one way to save, recommended by a female cheapskate, is to go without underwear (at least when the weather's warm).” http://money.blogs.time.com/2010/07/01/qa-with-jeff-yeager-author-of-the-cheapskate-next-door/comment-page-1/#comment-3562#ixzz0sRS6Wahe

156. You eat potato chips and ice cream for breakfast. Eight months of unemployment deserves some sort of recognition. No one is watching. Splurge.

155. You hear of job openings for Russian Secret Agents. According to a NY Times article, a neighbor to the alleged New Jersey spies who were arrested yesterday said, “They couldn’t have been spies. Look what she did with the hydrangeas.”
Come see my garden. My neighbors will attest I can dig. Is there a Russian employment office nearby? Here I'm disguised as an American Toad. Hire me. (NY Times article is at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/30/world/europe/30spy.html?hp)

154. You become known for animal expulsions. Your friend Dottie tells you she thinks of you when she cleans up her cat’s vomit. You have arrived. And last night, a bat thanks you by fluttering back and forth above your head at 3:30 a.m. Today, you research bat "guano" and find it deposited in your guest bedroom. Why is there a special word for bat poop?

153. When the Generals change, you don't have to salute the new one.

152. When you have a big zit, no one at the office stares at it.

151. There are no complaints unless you forget to feed the dogs. Then, there may be some impatience.

\\\ For Good Things numbered 101 through 150, see 150 Good Things about Unemployment posted June 17, 2010.
For Good Things numbered 1 through 100, see 100 Good Things about Unemployment posted April 3, 2010. ///

124 Good Things about Unemployment

124. You photograph wildflowers in the woods. Open Salon editors feature your photos: http://open.salon.com/blog/unemployedmarx/2010/05/03/beauty_in_the_woods_wildflowers_of_ny
You are hot, well, maybe warm, well, maybe cool.

123. It makes you feel good to read books that feature characters with worse luck than you have. I read The Natural Laws of Good Luck: A Memoir of an Unlikely Marriage by Ellen Graf. The story includes fire, unemployment, loneliness, betrayal, isolation, car accidents, financial strain, disappointment and serious illness. And it is all true. I feel better already.

122. Laughter. Happy World Laughter Day! According to the Laughter Yoga folks, laughter will promote world peace. I agree. If we are all laughing, it seems unlikely we will kill each other. Here is a video I guarantee will make you laugh: http://www.youtube.com/v/UjXi6X-moxE&hl=en I found it on their website.

121. May Day. When I was a kid, we made baskets from construction paper, filled them with lawn flowers and bush blooms, and brought them to neighbors. May Day is celebrated as International Workers Day or Labor Day in many countries. Today in the U.S., Mayday is a distress call from the unemployed. According to the Pew Fiscal Analysis Initiative, 23% of the 15 million unemployed Americans have been jobless for a year or more. That is 3.4 million people, about the population of Connecticut, Oregon or Oklahoma. According to that great resource Wikipedia, students at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland celebrate today by running naked into the North Sea at sunrise. Sounds good to me, as long as there is some snuggling after that cold plunge.

\\\ For Good Things numbered 111 through 120, see 120 Good Things about Unemployed posted April 29, 2010.
For Good Things numbered 101 through 110, see 110 Good Things about Unemployment posted April 16, 2010.
For Good Things numbered 1 through 100, see 100 Good Things about Unemployment posted April 3, 2010. ///