I was recently let go . . . by Unemployment.
In my family of moderate Republicans and hardcore Libertarians, unemployment compensation is seen as one of many economic tools of the devil — a communist gateway drug leading to a life of dependence and poor dental hygiene.
I would try it just this once.
And Unemployment was happy to help. Unemployment was like: I’m here for formerly employed people just like you! Plus, you’ve been proving to me for weeks via our MS-DOS-era web-based activity tracker that you’re trying to get a job.
And I said: Thanks!
And Unemployment said: If you need help after August of this year, you’re DEAD TO ME.
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And I said: OK wow.
So first, I looked for journalism jobs and I had promising interviews. I followed up with a newspaper, and the hiring person said, “Just so you know, our process takes about three months.” Three months? I thought. Just so you know, I’m gonna have a job by then! And a quarter of a year passed and I emailed back, Just checking in . . . miss THIS? like I was drunk-texting an ex-stranger.
They did not.
I told Unemployment the news. No problem, they said. Get back out there, buddy!
I expanded my job search from fields in which I have advanced degrees to shoe companies, because I like wearing shoes. In an interview for writing shoe copy, an enthusiastic hiring woman told me that I was the “unicorn” they had been looking for. This went straight to my head. I was on a vacation with my large employed family and told everybody more than once, They called me . . . a unicorn, like I was a legend in a Western about employing mythical livestock.
A week later I said, Hello, Mr. Unicorn here, checking in. No response. That’s odd, I thought, wondering if I had misinterpreted the word “unicorn.” I received an email: The position has been put on hold. Then I read that this shoe company was moving back in with its parents in Michigan.
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Unemployment still had my back. The job market is red hot! I believe in you!
I broadened again, this time to include every job, everywhere. I was doom-scrolling LinkedIn and Indeed, rocketing applications into the World Wide Web so fast my clicking finger developed a toned bicep.
Nothing.
What about networking, you ask? I had coffee dates, Zoom dates, drink dates, and playdates. I was at the park with my kids talking myself up to the parents and nannies and grannies. I’m actually somewhat of a unicorn, if you can believe it.
A freelance gig came my way. It was one week of work, and I made $1,800. Flush with cash and confidence, I told Unemployment about the whole thing. Listen, this opportunity came up. It’s a good thing, right?
And the entire State of Massachusetts, like a jealous lover, said, We’re FINISHED. But they must’ve whispered it, because I didn’t hear it. The next week, I’m filling out my online job search report like a good boy, and Unemployment says, in red, There’s a problem here.
And I say: Where?
And they say: Guess.
And I say: I’m trying!
And they say: Guess wrong and we’ll close your file forever.
So I call Unemployment to sort this out. I am greeted by an endless robotic menu. Oh no, I think. Have I been catfished? I’ve never actually met Unemployment. After 4 minutes and 43 seconds of pressing one and eight and two, an automated voice says, “Too many people are trying to call us. Call back tomorrow.”
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Surely, I think as I call back, this cannot be how this works. But it surely is how it works.
Weeks turn into months. I call many dozens of times, and I’m always told to call again later. I go back to the website, which might as well require an AOL CD from an old Cheerios box to access, and I try again. My record has been closed.
A few weeks ago, I called for a direct quote from the robot, and somehow I got through to hold music. I listened for 51 minutes and 50 seconds until I heard a faint beep.
A human person, somewhere in the distance, said: Hello from the other side.
And I said, hoarsely: I must have called a thousand times.
This real man helped me file an appeal, and when I accidentally hung up on him — which nearly broke me — he called back. He transferred me to a coworker who said it was “an act of God” I was able to get through. She helped me, and we were wrapping up the call when she said again that I was a very lucky man.
A man? I thought. No. They called me . . . a unicorn.
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Bart Tocci is a writer, journalist, husband, and father who lives in Boston.