Seasons Greetings everyone and I hope you all have a great time.
In 12 days I have been out of work for 18 months. Because of the stroke and other health issues I have had an exemption from applying for jobs and taking part in the “work for dole” scheme from May to 31 December. Even with the exemption I have still tried to find work. In the last six months I have applied for well over 100 jobs and had nearly no feedback. I have received 3 phone calls from agencies, one decided that I had “too much experience” and the other 2 positions required a drivers licence, I am not allowed to drive until 25 January at the earliest and then only with a medical certificate. One question: How can you have TOO much experience? (a euphemism for “too old”) If someone is capable and willing to do the job for the offered remuneration why not hire them ? After all, statistically, older employees take less time off and are more efficient (require less training and supervision) than their younger counterparts, they also tend to stay in the job longer (younger people are continuously improving their career prospects by changing jobs frequently).
Before the stroke the lack of feedback was getting me down and I was quite depressed, not suicidal but very morose. a constant thought going through my head was “No one cares” but my hospital stay changed all that. From the very first second the staff gave me the feeling that I was important and worth something. They were kind and considerate. Almost immediately I felt better, safer, wanted. I had my very first hospital stay in 2006 the stay was for 7 days, I was in my 40’s. 7 days after leaving I was readmitted and was in for about 9 weeks (with another 5 weeks recovery), I ended having nearly 3 months in all away from work. Since 2006 I think I have had at least a week in hospital every year (2014 it was 3 visits for a total of about 4 weeks, 2015 – 3 visits for a total of about 5 weeks – the last being 16 days due to the stroke). Each and every time I left feeling happier than before I was admitted and it is all thanks to the staff, especially the nurses. One thing I noticed was that the nurses seemed to get younger each time. My first visit, most appeared to be in their late 20’s (with a few in their 40’s or 50’s but I am terrible at guessing peoples ages). My last visit it appeared that all the nursing staff were in their late teens to early twenties, it is most probably that the older I get the younger everyone else looks.
Once again Seasons Greetings and my best wishes for all nurses and doctors through out the world – keep doing a great job and helping old farts like me survive a bit longer.
