Over a coffee, with a friend. Two people with degrees to their names, hopelessly unemployed despite desperate efforts to find work, counting pennies to see if they can afford another cup of coffee.
The friend is a man who always keeps his cool. Yet I can see the deepening fear in his eyes when he tells me of the countless hours, days, weeks spent writing job applications, of travelling far and wide to interviews, of applying for good jobs, OK jobs, bad jobs, and hearing only the word "no". That word is soon teaming up with another and becomes the dreaded theme song of the unemployed: "no money"...
All painfully familiar to me. I hear that scary tune myself, every day.
We linger over our coffee because none of us can afford cinema, shopping, pubs or clubs. But surprisingly, today it's OK. I've survived today, I will probably survive tomorrow. The day after that - well, something will come up.
And the loneliness can't choke me as long as I have a friend to share this with. I can even see a purpose to the fear and pain of my situation when I see the relief in my friends eyes - when he realises that he is not alone.
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