A Temptation
A fictional short-short story
I was a coordinator at Save the Species, until I got “laid off,” my third termination in five years. The manager apologized: “We need to make the most of donors’ money and AI can do much of your work faster (gulp), (gulp) better, and (gulp) more reliably, 24/7/365 (gulp), at less cost than a human. (gulp.)
I started looking for a job and, ugh, ghosting, one of 20 screening interviews followed by more ghosting.
After a month, my emotional gas tank, low from having gotten “laid off” yet again from a supposedly “people-first” nonprofit, and then getting nothing back from all my job searching, was empty. So I decided to live off the taxpayer a while.
I visited the unemployment office and in addition to handing me my check, they informed me that after unemployment ran out, the welfare department could get me more cash, CalFresh (the term they use to avoid “food stamps’” negative connotation), free bus and train transportation, free MediCal healthcare, subsidized phone and utilities, even free admission to museums and parks. They warned me that the wait for very-low-cost Section 8 housing is long and I said, “No problem. I can crash at my friend’s.”
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I tried it. Yeah, when I applied for welfare, I had to sit a few hours in the office alongside others, some who smelled. And yeah, they made me join a work crew cleaning up the side of Route 24. But it was a good deal: I only had to do that easy work one five-hour shift every two weeks — Lots of free time for fun, and yeah, to feel a little guilty that I was a parasite on the taxpayer.
After two months, the friend, super-enthusiastic, maybe because he was sick of his long-term houseguest, gushed, “Dude, I can get you a job. It pays a little more than all that you’re getting on welfare, although it is taxable, and you get to do work you like — coordinator at a nonprofit. I told the boss that you have a bachelor’s in sociology and years of experience as a coordinator in nonprofits. She bit without asking many questions — She trusted my recommendation.”
My friend said something like, “Hey, you’ll make more money, not be bored, and feel like you’re contributing, not be, as you called yourself, a parasite.”
I said, “Sounds great. I’ll let you know.”
I’m mulling.
I read this aloud on YouTube.
Marty Nemko is a career and personal coach, and author of 36 books including A Dose of Reality. You can reach him at mnemko@gmail.com
