Being out of a job usually ranks in the top 3 nightmares of life for most adults, but not for some young folks. Instead of looking for work, these people, usually singles in their 20s and 30s, prefer to stay with "funemployment" and enjoy life a bit.
Kimi Yoshino of the Los Angeles Times has more on the story:
What most people would call unemployment, Van Gorkom embraced as "funemployment."
While millions of Americans struggle to find work as they face foreclosures and bankruptcy, others have found a silver lining in the economic meltdown. These happily jobless tend to be single and in their 20s and 30s. Some were laid off. Some quit voluntarily, lured by generous buyouts.
Buoyed by severance, savings, unemployment checks or their parents, the funemployed do not spend their days poring over job listings. They travel on the cheap for weeks. They head back to school or volunteer at the neighborhood soup kitchen. And at least till the bank account dries up, they're content living for today.
"I feel like I've been given a gift of time and clarity," said Aubrey Howell, 29, of Franklin, Tenn., who was laid off from her job as a tea shop manager in April. After sleeping in late and visiting family in Florida, she recently mused on Twitter: "Unemployment or funemployment?"
Link (Photo: Genaro Molina / LA Times)
I'm 51 and last year I just walked away from
what I've been doing for 30 years.
My cost of living is very low.I get by doing odd jobs,
mostly computer repair.Never been happier.
Minimize!Learn the difference between wants and needs.
Maybe the author should have talked to a few of the millions of unemployed single mothers without college educations, or one of the millions of assembly line workers who've lost their jobs and all other employment opportunities over the past 20 years of America's industrial decline. I'm sure they'd love to talk about how fucking fun it is to be unemployed in a country without affordable health care, or the joy that comes from having to figure whether to pay the electricity or mortgage this month.
Better yet, here's a tip to for the wealthy and their media friends: keep your glib, asinine observations about unemployment to yourself. Nobody in the real world wants to hear about how you and your prodigal children choose to waste money.
I'm sure there are those who can take advantage of a bad situation, but plenty more that cannot.
The thread is yours, sir or ma'am. Well said.
Oh, if only we could have more "musings" by this sage.
I don't think a dimwit who uses the term "funemployment" understands this.
I am both deeply envious and cotemptuous of this blissful ignorance.
That was coined by an idiot wrapped in a moron.
I have been doing I.T. work in the wonderfully broke state of Michigan for over ten years. I've been laid-off, down-sized, minimized, outsourced and just plain fired.
It's not fun. Unless you call a financial kick in the balls every single day while figuring out where to sell an internal organ you don't need just to pay bills and a mortgage "fun".
Morons...
Maybe when I win the lotto, I'll be on "funemployment"
Having said that, it irks me when people sit there like bit fat bloated ticks sucking up unemployment and welfare checks while barely lifting a finger to get themselves a damn job. I feel like I've earned my long relaxing vacations Because I HAVE my own money. I have more than enough to always sustain myself. I always will and I've earned my place in life. Who the hell do these people think they are? What have they "earned", and why do they feel they deserve anything at all? Get to effing work!
Now these parasites are calling their "jobless time" FUN-employment? Figures. Pathetic. I'll bet that while they're goofing off, they'll be whining about jobs being taken overseas, and how life is just sooo hard for them. What the hell happened to the "developed" world? When did people become so complacent about being a worthless NOTHING their whole lives while feeling entitled to everything successful people have?
That being said, I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the extra free time. However, I am quite worried about getting another job, so perhaps this doesn't really apply? I certainly wouldn't call it "fun" to be constantly worried about my career's future. But sometimes you have to enjoy yourself a little bit to keep from being depressed when you get turned down or (more often) ignored when job applying.