Wednesday 22 July 2015

Frustrations & a reality check



I’m slowly getting back to normal. You can tell when I’m overtired. I start doing silly things. So on Monday I breadcrumbed some cod for dinner & suggested the Fox might like to chip the potatoes while I did something else. “What potatoes?” he asked, "Where are they?" I then realised I’d totally forgotten to even peel any potatoes, something I normally do first thing in the morning before thinking of going online, jigging, disappearing into a book or whatever. I hastily peeled them. And that after I’d made a fool of myself ringing up the chemist about the wrong number of packets of pills I’d just collected to discover I hadn’t even had that item on my prescription so the new box I was opening was the second box from last month.

At least now my thoughts are becoming a bit more coherent. Though today I’ve not got anything to do towards the meal as the Fox has already prepared a Shepherd’s Pie ready for the oven this evening.

Yesterday we bumped into someone we hadn’t seen for a while. He looked well but is clearly frustrated. He is one of those brilliant minds that gets bored easily. Unfortunately he is once more out of work. Periods of unemployment seem to be the norm these days for so many young people. Gone are the days of a steady job that lasted for life or until you were ready to move on. He still must only be about 40, may even be still in his 30s.

Apparently he went for an interview in Kuwait. He arrived just in time for Ramadan to start. He found all eateries, bars, cafés etc. closed during daylight hours, despite the great heat. He ended up resorting to drinking water in his hotel bedroom as the only place he was able to get any refreshment. He concluded whether or not he was offered a job in Kuwait, he just couldn’t cope with the idea of living life like this on a daily basis. So now he looks on.

He did get to being on the next round of interviews at one company, to be told as they hadn’t been able to find another candidate to put through to that stage, he would have to wait until they did so for the interview. His reaction, & mine, was why not just offer him the job. But no, the usual protocols have to be followed, so he waits on & wonders if he will even hear again from that company.

All I can say is I’m relieved we’re no longer in the job market. Admittedly if I could be healthy I would prefer to be working than not working, even if it did mean the frustration of job hunting. However, I reckon, after being disabled for over 25 years now, a part-time wheelchair user for 20 of those years, I can’t imagine I’m suddenly, & miraculously, going to get well enough to work. If a trip to the hospital with the Fox where he did the exercises not me, & an afternoon visit from friends can knock me out this much, there’s no way I could cope with a job, no matter how much I may wish it otherwise.

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