Writers find material to write about wherever they are. Hopefully you won’t be out of work and collecting unemployment in the near future!

Jill: Thanks for sharing what happened to you in your parenting through divorce class. My parents went through an ugly custody battle. I didn’t realize how much it had affected me until I was around 25. I wasn’t at risk with respect to drugs and things. But I had issues!

You seem like a terrific parent. I think the good parents are the ones who worry about being good parents. All anyone can do is the best they can.

Derek: The workshop was funny if not fun. Unlike probably most of the people there, I was pretty relaxed. I have a computer background as well as some savings and a great support systems of friends and family. The actual unemployment office was OK: neat, clean, lots of computers and the staff do seem to want to be helpful.

The problem I’ve heard is that if you have a specialized skill and one that can pay quite a bit, the unemployment office can’t offer you much assistance. I don’t need to be told what job websites are out there or how to write a cover letter or resume. I remember my first time at the unemployment office – one woman worked for a bank and was part of their real estate – something team. Like me, she hadn’t been unemployed in a very long time. That last time I only collect one check. I had to file in person – no online stuff.

These people sound interesting. I’ve always heard negative things about the unemployment office (understandably so since it’s not usually the most fun in any person’s life). I’m interested to hear about this process from your next (hopefully only) few blog entries.

I remember there was one young guy there, early 20s at best throwing out the most heartbreaking questions along the lines of, “What do you tell your daughter if she keeps asking why mommy has different men staying over?” That kind of thing.

And I remember that there WAS one bit of information I was grateful to hear, one thing that made me rest easier that made the whole stupid thing worth it, which was that the guy said that having divorced parents did not necessarily put children at risk for drugs, alcoholism, whatever bad stuff they measure. He said that having one stable parent was enough. And he had said enough things that from what I know about kids were right on that I could trust him on that one.

He also said that the kids who really were in the most danger were the ones whose parents continued to fight over them in court. Which makes sense I guess, because at least in the cases I’ve seen of parents spending tons of time in court of their children, never has it been it in the child’s best interest. I know there must be times when a child is truly in danger and it makes sense to get them away from one parent or the other. But the times I’ve seen have just been cases of one parent trying to force their will on the other.

Your description of divorce class DOES sound like the unemployment workshop and I like your description of, “a faint hope that they could take one little useful piece of information away and if not at least not DIE from boredom.”

I had no idea there was a divorce class though. I can imagine a class that helps you recover from divorce – is that what that was about?

The people in the workshop ranged from those who wanted to learn and use all the resources to people who were just there because they had to be (like myself) to those who were hoping for something useful.

Based on my experience so far, if you’re in a highly skilled white-collar type of profession, these workshops aren’t going to increase your chances of finding work. I think it’s great that the career center had so many computers and workshops that helped with cover letters and interviewing.

I’m not finding any of this particularly helpful but it’s giving me an appreciation of how much I have to be grateful for.