JOB SEARCHES

I just watched a segment on Good Morning America about a gentleman who lost his job and is living in hotels on his frequent flyer miles and frequent hotel points. He was a middle aged man like many of us who have been laid off in this recession. He lost his house, put his belongings in storage and is using hotels as his base camp.

What a sad commentary on our world! I lost my job last year too. I was lucky to have a husband who had a good job and was most likely not going to lose it. Unfortunately for me, I worked in a very unstable industry, in the private sector, in a section of the industry where they hire and fire you like they change their underwear. I really thought I would find a job in a matter of a few weeks. It is now March, and had it not been for a close friend of mine who started a new business, I would still be unemployed.

This opportunity came along in January. It is great! We are developing a product that will revolutionize the way the world communicates. However, when you start a business it comes with its challenges such as; money being tight, getting your name out there, cold calls and all the various things you have to do to get it off the ground. This would have been much easier when I was 25 instead of 48. The good thing is at 48 I am so much wiser and so much better prepared to take on this type of endeavor. I love this and although my anxiety level is at the top right now, I am not nearly as stressed as I was when I was in the corporate world.

I guess part of the point of this blog is two-fold. One, middle aged workers are talented, experienced individuals, most are willing to learn new skills to continue their employment and most would take a paycut to continue to help their employer. Most of us are willing to work with new technology and embrace the chance to use it in the workplace. I take offense when someone thinks they can hire a 22 year old straight out of college and get the same level of experience and work ethic as they got from me (no offense to my 22 year old graduating this year. Honey, I hope you find a job.).

Two-I have been watching new businesses spring up all over the place. Most of them becoming pretty strong in a recession that is questionably diminishing. Most of those businesses are being started by people who have been laid off and cannot find work. Many of them by the middle aged worker who is being displaced. Apparently, the middle aged worker is pretty good at what they do or these businesses would not be so successful. I guess those companies that laid them off should have thought twice before they did so.

So my advice to the 20 somethings is be nice to the 40 and 50 somethings because you might be working for us. And those of you that laid us off ----THANKS--- in my case, it was the best thing that has ever happened to me. I now have the best career and possibilities I could ever have.

Opposing Views on Mental Illness

Last month I wrote a letter to the editor of the Republican American regarding an article about how difficult it is to be a teacher of high school students in the United States. The long and short of my editoral was that with cooperation between teachers and parents and the understanding that there may be underlying mental health or substance abuse issues, there is hope to work with these teens to make them productive citizens.

A few days later a gentleman followed up with a letter which basically called substance abusers "drunks" and those with mental illness "nuts". He stated that people did not suffer from depression they only got the blues. I am sure that Marie Osmond, in her current pain would love to hear that. I wonder if he thinks those with autism are just "dumb" or some other nasty word. It seems to me that someone who responds in such a crude and ignorant fashion are either truly uneducated or have really been hiding under a rock for many years.

This past Saturday another letter appeared from a nurse who used to work with the mentally ill and has seen the progression of the field of psychology. Her experience has seen this country go from institutionalizing people to getting them out in the community to live as productive, happy citizens. This is because of behavioral therapy, psychpharmachological drugs and other therapies available to those afflicted with mental illness. Certainly, this is proof that the system, while not perfect, has made tremendous strides in the past 50 years to make the field of psychology better.

This gentleman stated that the "new theory" of Chemical imbalances fails the test because "a simple change of environment can get rid of chronic depression." He also stated that "seasonal depression in northern climates can be caused by a lack of vitamin D" and that food allergies, undiagnosed physical maladies and lack of exercise are causes of depression. Well, sir, perhaps it did not dawn on you that any one of those activities would have an impact on the chemical structure in your body. I think you disproved your own theory.

I think that this man is a mean spirited, nasty man. He definitly is not one of the many afflicted with mental illness. I would not put him in the same category. That would be unfair to those who actually work hard to overcome an illness that can be very dibilitating. To those that seek treatment, try, fail, try agin and continue in recovery, my hat's off to you. It a journey that you will always be on and no one should ever make you feel inadequate!! I am proud of every one of you and pleased to be a NAMI Waterbury representative.

A New World for Kim

I decided to join the rest of the world and begin my own blog. I am not sure why. I am sure many of you could care less about what I think. But then again, maybe you do care. My thought on this is to keep up to date on issues that interest me and hopefully others. I am looking forward to this new endeavor.

Deciding on a name for my blog was taxing on my brain. I am not always the most creative person and thus the name not that exciting. I really wanted something exciting but Kim's View seemed appropriate. I was going to use pink as a background as I do love pink but it was overwhelming.

I believe this will give me an outlet to express myself and my views on life. There are several things that I would like to write about and this is a good forum. Mental Health issues, Healthcare issues, Politics and Children are fair game.

I look forward to blogging with all of you and hope to get comments from you back.