Are you only a person when you have a job?

I got that attitude from an old careworker I had. I just looked at him, stunned by his stupidity.

Yea, it is great being home all day so I can "do anything I want". Yea cuz I can do so much! That is why I needed a care worker to help me function? Eh.

He also told me he didn't just "do this" (job), he had a "real" job too "of course". Or he wouldn't make enough. He made twice my disability check on his "fake" job.

So yea... when you are at your lowest and your weakest, you are sooo lucky being on an eternal vacation. I mean, people working actually have vacations. I NEVER have a vacation from my issues.

Don't let the b-stards grind you down.

Yep. Exactly. Looks like we're in the same boat. I also avoided someone from the past. However, I did reconnect with one guy I had been friends with since like grade 5 and it's been fantastic so who knows, it could work out well? Just stay vague about what you do? "Hi, I'm a pre-millionaire".

Anyways, if you sort out how to get out of this situation, please let me know and the others on here.

Tbh, I don't really believe in the "work/do what you love." I don't want to love working because I don't want an employer to think that my life revolves around them! I want to love things outside of work...work to me is just a means to an end. It's where I go to do an honest day's work and represent the company well. What I do outside of work IMO, is what defines a person and who they are.

I think what I had said previously was misunderstood. I wasn't aware IATE was in a position where she didn't have to worry about the same things as other unemployed people do, and her family and friends discouraged her from taking jobs that weren't directly related to her occupation. A lot of unemployed people don't have that option. Due to the competitive nature of my field, especially as a newbie and without much experience I am considering taking something unrelated to what I went to school for. It'll still be in the same field, but it may not be the job I ideally want. Ideals have to go out the window when I look at my bank account and realize I may be short on rent

I don't know, maybe it's just me...but I don't think it's a waste of one's time to work in a job unrelated to talents and passion. IMO, employers don't truly care about a person's talents or passion because they want to ensure a person benefits their own goals. They want people who have the talent to do what they want. I would rather reserve my talents and passions for people who truly care and won't write me up for making a few mistakes here and there. I know there is the mentality that "oh you should be getting paid for this, etc" but once you turn something like that into work, it becomes less enjoyable. It's why I like to separate my hobbies and interests from work. They give me a respite from the office politics and daily grind...things I will soon have to deal with 40 hours a week.

If I was more healthy and could actually work I would find a menial and lonely job (If possible of course). I don't need a lot of money and doing "easy" things get my mind going, so I could do my real job which is writing (even if no one believes in me...).

I have no understanding how some jobs are more important than others. I mean yea, a doctor is less important than the garbage men.... but people oddly see it the other way around because of the pay.

I feel in some situations, people are put against each other for the sole purpose of instilling anger and fear, if the labor fights each other, no one will question who the employer is and why they get rich on their labor. For that reason also unemployed people are important for the riches, if labor can pick on them too, they become better workers. (Sorry if that is too political.)

Sometimes it is a full time job just to keep moving on here... You are a real person with or without a job

Some ^&%*(# employers chatise people for NOT working in their field or working in something they have a degree/training in. They don't get that people need to eat. So it seems to me you can't win.....

In a perfect world, everyone would be working in their field or something they are passionate about.

You make a good point about how people view some jobs.

BTW, do you happen to be a fan of the great Jimi Hendrix?? I just think of him when I see your name. He ROCKED!!!!!!

Totally agree with you all.
Good point!

This issue is so difficult for me, the uncertainty of don't knowing when I will get approved for SSD. I am a person, no matter if I work or not, I am a survivor because live every day without being able to have a job due to my illness it is only for the brave ones, like many of you here, we are all brave.

I don't think that at all - in fact, I work a lot and I am so upset of how much it controls me - how much I seek approval there, how much my life is about work - I work because it helps my husband and I - but I'm trying to get back to also doing what I love to do and self care, because work is not all there is to life, for sure!

I literally had a guy dump me because I was out of work. Now that's harsh. I think this judgmental attitude towards unemployed people partly comes from jealousy. I think some people are actually jealous of others who aren't working, so its very easy for them to act like the person without a job is some derelict or something. There is a saying that foreigners sometimes say about America and that is, "Europeans work to live, Americans live to work." Its a cultural thing. We are children of the industrial and technological age in the United States, and that old-fashioned strict 1950s suit & tie corporate office bare knuckled mentality is still very much alive, just packaged a little differently now.

I can completely relate. I feel like I'm not taken seriously unless I have a good job. I've been lying to my parents about having the same job since February so that they won't harass me. The truth is, I had to quit in March because I got so sick and depressed that I physically couldn't work anymore, but I know they won't understand that. I also have a friend who likes to recommend job ideas to me, even though I don't like any of them. She tells me not to be picky because I need something. What if I can't deal with anything right now? I had another job that I had to quit this week because I kept having panic attacks, and I honestly think I need another break to figure myself out. But I haven't told her that. If it weren't for my fiance I'd probably think that I was a horrible person for not having a job right now because of my family and this friend, but he's been very supportive and it's made me see that I'm not bad for being unemployed, and that I probably need to be right now.