The story ran in Monday's paper:

The pink slip party was set for Wednesday evening at the Centre Club on West Shore and Kennedy boulevards. She helped line up a couple of motivational speakers and got recruiters to pledge attendance and nailed down sponsorships from local businesses so job-seekers could get in free.

"I want to find a job," she said, "but I want to help other people in the same position, too."

She tried to spread the word on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. In the office, she leaned back in her chair, stared at the ceiling, scrolled through a list of staffing agencies, clicked the top of her pen. What if nobody showed up?

Planning for a pink slip party sounds a lot like a job hunt these days. Job hunts sound like mouse clicks. Like the occasional keyboard clickety-clack. Breathing in an empty office.

Here are some of the comments on tampabay.com:

Keep doing what you're doing. You will find something.

I feel the pain of everyone in the job market. After being without a job for over a year I lost my condo and my car. Unemployment ran out and savings evaporated. I am starting over at KFC making $7.50 an hour and I am 49 years old with a bachelor's degree ...

The main obstacle for Cara and most of the commentors is age. I'm in the same boat as a 49 yr old with three degrees, including my MBA, and over 20 years of experience. In the rare instances where you even get an interview, employers are obviously looking for youth that cost the comapny less in terms of salary and insurance costs.

In this economy you have to go for it. Get creative and operate that you are you own company that is selling whatever somebody needs that you can provide. The days of a good job working for a company are over. This is a kill or be killed economy. Any it is only going to get worse. I never thought I'd see the day that the machine shops and manufacturing would be closing.

Here is just one of some of the e-mails I've gotten:

I was impressed with your story and would like to talk to Cara about an admin assistant/sales support position in our firm that we are creating.

And here's an e-mail I got from Cara:

I have a couple interviews today and tomorrow already!