I was unemployed for two years after my benefits ran out. I spent most of that time looking for work in vain.
In March, I decided enough was enough, and signed up to volunteer for the Kerry campaign in New Jersey. Seven months later, I've become one of the old-timers in the West Orange office, and on good days, it can feel like it was time well spent.
Now comes the dilemma: I've finally got a paying job.
The week before last, I finally got a call from a temp agency, saying they had work for me. Don't know how long it lasts, but it's a paying job, good for three, four or five days a week sometimes, it seems. I took it - but it eats me that I'm leaving the campaign behind right at the critical juncture. It's a fundraising office, handed off from the Kerry campaign to the DNC since the convention, but still quite productive. We've had days when we'd bundle up over $50,000 to send to the DNC Washington office.
And now, in the homestretch, I have to leave it behind.
The bosses at the West Orange office have told me not to feel guilty about it, that I've already done my part; but I can't shake the sense that I'm letting the home team down just because I need a paying job to help with the bills.
Is there a Kossack out there who'd be willing to take up the strain, in one state or another? Just to balance the books, for the next eleven days or so?
Maybe the whole thing sounds silly. But I hate not being able to see it through to the end...