Bittersweet is the correct, accurate word to use in order to appropriately describe this second to last week (of July) receiving nothing short of any extra worthy, available unemployment benefits to the tune of an additional six hundred dollars. The flexibility of having extra cash flow on hand was a nice touch and often, a helpful crutch to lean on, especially through the unwavering support received in these irregularly uncertain times.
It’s hard to believe that this temporary period is coming to an end.
As I fondly begin to look back, never once having one, single, sole reassurance or chance of the most finances to ever appear in my bank account, I would openly joke with my family that I could finally afford the finer things in life. That absolutely blew my mind. In fact, I almost felt guilty in a way, if I’m being completely honest. It was surreal, and still is. How did I get so lucky, I kept thinking to myself? What did I do to deserve this incredible treatment? Who was looking out for me despite the apparent, constant, existent struggle?
For the past four months, a measurable 120 days, a long term, proven source of revenue represented a dire lifeline for such fellow employees, indefinite and unsure of when, where and if their next payment would show? The uneasiness of that task was unfairly unwelcome in many, similar, likewise situations.
Purposefully living an effective life outside of a tightly enclosed office not only signaled the immediacy of the popularly chosen, rising, trending social media hashtag, ‘Work From Home,’ but also simultaneously, highly, actively encouraging the must need, carefully, safely distant use of ‘Zoom.’
Since March, noticeably observant communication is the newfound pinpoint and recognizable part of a productive search of a job in an already, uniformly, familiarly crowded workforce.
What is a sense of normalcy?