During A Recession, Helplessness Abounds

Jobs numbers come and go these days and in this economy, but recently the jobs numbers weren’t so good and I suddenly looked around and saw that several of the people I love were being adversely affected by the bad economy. I wrote previously about my own misadventures in unemployment, how powerless I felt, and how happy I was to find myself on the employed side of things again.

But, this week, as I looked around at people who have been such an important part of my life, I felt an entirely new kind of helplessness: What can you possibly do to help people you love who cannot find work?

Because the helplessness you feel when you’re unemployed is so complete and total that you feel hopeless, at least I did. And now, as I look and see people I love so dearly feel the same way, I don’t really know what to say or do. I know that “I know how you feel” is not going to work. I can’t find them a job. I can’t make them feel anymore in control of their lives.

What’s a friend to do?

So, what I try to do instead, is just be encouraging, and hope that being a loving, listening and understanding friend will be enough to foster a little bit of hope for them. There’s really not a whole lot else you can do, I tell myself, and hope that this is enough. Because, after all, recessions don’t last forever, but having friendship and love when you need it the most can come pretty close.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD.