Jobless would rather work than be on the dole

It was a good day on Facebook. "Smooth sailing" seemed to be the overall tone from the updates of family and friends along with another humorous YouTube suggestion posted by a favored nephew that I can't really can't share. Best of all was the shout out from a friend who was all excited about starting her first day at a new job after being out of work since October.

It had been a rough few months of scraping by for her, so I couldn't help but smile when I saw her post; "No more sleeping in, no more sleeping in. Work, work, work ... FINALLY! Yay!"

Yes, I "like" that one.

Call me Pollyanna, but that's the kind of news that makes you think that maybe things are really turning around. One down and how many more to go?

A lot — what with the national unemployment rate at 9.7 percent; 11.8 percent here in Florida; 13.4 percent here in Pasco County. Updated figures are expected next week.

In my little corner, a friend is back to work so I'll take it as a reason to celebrate and put on the rose-colored glasses. Life, after all, often traipses at a "one step forward, two steps back" kind of pace. In this economic climate, a small advancement for one becomes a great leap.

Even so, being out of the work is the painful norm for way too many. No doubt it's a tough way to make a living, even if there are those who have their own ideas about that. During a recent Senate debate, for instance, Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona offered sympathy to the unemployed but also argued that unemployment benefits might just keep people from job-hunting "because people are being paid even though they're not working."

The thing is, I don't know anyone who enjoys being on the dole. Stories abound from those who are worn down from spending luckless days pounding the pavement. They've drained their savings and sold off their stuff, trying hard to tread water while dealing with the difficulties of maneuvering through a wieldy automated system to get a paltry unemployment check from a program they figure they've been paying into for 30 years or so.

"Work is so much easier," was the word from my newly employed friend. "If you can get it."

Especially if you're hanging on for 30 days at a time.

That's the duration of the emergency extension of unemployment benefits signed by the president this week, after Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky dropped his one-man standoff over the $10 billion measure. As unemployment benefits for hundreds of thousands of Americans hung in the balance, Bunning insisted Congress find a way to pay for them first.

In the dysfunctional Senate, Bunning is the crazy, old, middle-finger chucking uncle who no one — not even his own party — wants to invite to dinner because he just might start tossing the good china. But when it came right down to it, he did have a point. Pay as you go was something everyone was agreeing on just last week, after all.

They're a little late to that dance, of course.

But this is an emergency. Taking a stand by holding people's lifeline hostage doesn't sit well for those who are trying to make do with, say, $275 a week — the maximum unemployment compensation in Florida.

People need to eat.

And truth be told, they would much rather have a job.

Work, after all, is easier.

If you can get it.

Michele Miller can be reached at miller@sptimes.com or at (727) 869-6251.