Better

Bruno had a really good walk today. We made our way down Memorial Drive to Riverview Lane and back. A quiet, and somewhat private street, Riverview Lane borders an older, public golf course. The houses here are modest but tidy and well kept. There was lots to sniff. Leaves had been raked into the street and the last blooms of summer were emptied on top. Bruno likes to get his nose into the middle of the pile and plow. Plow hound. But he never remembers that there is curbing in there and either he crashes into the curb or falls off it, deeper into the leaves. I chuckle to myself but sometimes I know it’s gotta hurt, poor pooch.

Leaves. We have two huge, very old maple trees in the front yard that dropped their leaves earlier this week. It’s a daunting task to rake them into the street and it takes a great deal of motivation to even get started. A quick side note: in June when we had the trees cleaned out of dead wood we learned that we have three families of flying squirrels (Rocky, of “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show”) living in our trees. I felt so bad watching them scurry looking for new homes in the tree but the crew assured me that they'd be safe and sound by nightfall. Back to the leaves. On Tuesday afternoon, the doorbell rang and there stood a Hispanic man. He explained, in very broken English, that he was our newspaper delivery man (yes, we still get the paper a couple of days a week – for the comics and grocery coupons, Doc says). He went on to offer to rake our leaves for whatever I wanted to pay him. I didn’t know what to say except to thank him for the offer but that I couldn’t afford to do that. He insisted that he would do the work for any amount of money and my heart sank. I knew that if I gave $10 or $20, all I could afford, he would have been very happy but I couldn’t do it. The amount of work this job takes (took Doc and I working together 2 hours) is worth so much more. I felt that I would be insulting him or at the least, taking advantage of his situation. So I told him that my husband and I were both out of work and that we had to do it ourselves. I’ll never forget the instant look of compassion that washed over his face. He was sad for us and said, “I’m sorry.” He turned and left. Today I left him $10 in an envelope right where he places the newspaper every day with a note saying thank you for great service. I feel better.

My phone screen on Wednesday went well but they’re going to take their time “to get the right fit. If it takes until after the first of the New Year, then that’s what it's going to take," she said. She went on to say that the current holder of the position was stepping down, not leaving. The woman had just given birth to her second child and wanted more time with the family. Since she wasn't leaving, the bank could afford to take their time. She told me how lucky they were to have so many qualified candidates apply not once, but twice. A firm reminder of our times. I haven’t sent my thank you note yet because I’m still mulling over a statement. I’d like to tell her that if I’m not the right fit to please choose someone else who is unemployed. I know there are people who have good jobs or even OK jobs who have applied for this position in order to get a better job or to move up the corporate ladder. That will always happen. In the best of times, when I have been the hiring manager, conventional wisdom said to hire the person with the job. But times are not conventional. I want to tell every hiring manager and HR professional, “If all things are equal or even close, hire the unemployed person!” You’ll get a humble, grateful worker who will appreciate the littlest things and work hard to bring the greatest value to your company. I’ve heard this statement from so many of my peers, unemployed and those recently employed. It’s true. Very true. The unemployed are learning lessons that the employed will never learn. Our lives and those of our families have been changed forever, for the better.