Fired After 50, Part I: What It's Like To Be A Statistic
First in a series about a nurse (me) who finds herself suddenly unemployed at age 51 and learns she is part of an alarming trend of American workers who are losing their jobs at midlife and beyond. This is a story about the new "midlife crisis", the lessons learned during the transition process, and ultimately, starting all over again at a time of life when I'd once hoped I'd get to throttle back and cruise into retirement.
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Hello. My name is Marla and I'm an unemployed nurse.
There, I said it. Now's the time when everyone's supposed to shout "HI, MARLA!" and applaud. Oh, wait---that was AA, circa 1992. Oops. *blushes*
I've talked about this revolting development here on my blog before, but I had never actually felt embarrassed about it until two days ago, when I received my first unemployment benefits check. What a humbling experience that was! Even though I haven't worked since mid-June and needed the money desperately, it hurt my pride to walk into the bank and deposit a government check into my account. I swore that once I left welfare (now sixteen years ago) that I would never again darken the door of any government office until it was time to apply for Social Security. And until I lost my nursing-home job thanks to a deadly combination of a lousy economy, chronic low census, and degenerative joint problems, I had never needed to.
I've been in between jobs before, but there was always another job just around the corner......I wasn't "out of work", and I certainly didn't need to rely on public largesse to keep a roof over my family's heads during the brief interludes between the end of one job and the beginning of another. But the plain truth is---even if it's not really my fault---I AM unemployed, and the prospects for finding even a temporary position till I land my next 'real' job are few and far between.
Ironically, a temporary position was all I was looking for when I found this last job as a 3-11 charge nurse on a long-term care unit. I'd just come from a bruising experience working with an administrator whose passive-aggressive approach to work nearly separated me from my sanity; all I wanted was a job where I could hide out for awhile and nurse my wounds while still being able to eat and pay bills in the same month. In the process, I found redemption for previous career mistakes, right there in that old LTC........and even after almost two years, the old yearnings for money and power hadn't returned.
Well, fate is indeed a fickle creature, and thanks to the aforementioned trifecta of misfortune, I now find myself part of a growing---and alarming---trend in which many older Americans are being "Fired After Fifty", as AARP recently called it in a piece they did on the subject. No, we're not necessarily being hauled into the boss's office and told "don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya"; but whether it's described as getting fired, losing one's job, or being laid off/let go/shown the door/downsized/outsourced/cut back/restructured/fill in the politically correct blank, the result is the same: we are out of a job. And Lord help us in finding another one.........few companies want to hire in uncertain times, and fewer still are willing to take on, ahem, experienced workers who tend to cost more in terms of salary and benefits than their younger counterparts.
I have become something I never thought I'd be in a million years: just another statistic.
That said, I am oddly optimistic about my future, even though I'm what you might call damaged goods. I may have a case of advancing age, but I still have the education and knowledge that no one can ever take away from me. My body may be in a state of dilapidation that precludes any job requiring physical stamina, but I'm comfortable in my own skin, I can still do what I need to do to get through the day, and frankly, I think I've lifted as many 300-pounders and run as many halls as I should ever have to. (Nor is my overweight state solely to blame for it; I hear complaints all the time from fellow midlifers who are thin and fit, and yet have knee and hip problems and backaches that are as bad, if not worse than my own.) I'm also fairly intelligent, I learn things quickly, I get along with just about everyone, and I'm willing to try new things......what else could an employer possibly want, right?
We shall see, in any event. I've gotten some nibbles from the twenty or so applications and resumes I've sent out, and the interviews have now begun. Today's was interesting, especially in light of the fact that I am directionally dyslexic........and the job involves extensive in-state travel........and I got lost trying to find headquarters. Stay tuned!
