the loneliness of the long distance unemployed

One of the tough things that happens when you become unemployed is that you find out who your true friends are. Especially the longer you are without a job. I've noticed that people don't call as much, and even in the online forums (ie email, Facebook) they seem to be nonresponsive. That really hurts: unemployment is not contagious, or at least it's not spread thru human contact with the already-jobless.

At first, there's a lot of sympathy, people saying they'll keep an eye out for you or put in a good word. But now, after 3.5 months, or however long you've been on the dole, you're lucky if you get a one line email.

But the true friends, ahhh. They're the ones that will still invite you to join them for a drink, or return your calls or emails, and the first thing they ask is not "So, how's the job hunt going?" I hold these friends in my heart.

As for the others, well, for the time being I'm letting go. Maybe we can pick things up later, maybe not. But for now, energy must be conserved. It might be that they are really really busy, and I can understand that. But, as a teacher of mine once told me, when I was complainng about not having enough time to get things done, "All you have is time, it's how you choose to use it that matters. You make time for the things that are important."