TACTFUL TERMS REVEAL TOUGH TRUTHS
Euphemisms come in handy at times and are sometimes sources of humor. For example:
“ I am not a janitor. I am an environmental engineer. ”
“ I am not fat. I am gravitationally challenged. ”
“ I am not short. I am vertically challenged. ”
I recently came across a new term serving as a humorous euphemism for being unemployed. That term is “employmentally challenged.” The Urban Dictionary gives us a full description of the term ( www.urbandictionary.com):
“ In today’s economy, this [term] is quite handy when describing those who are currently without a job . . . . This large group of people may or may not be receiving monthly benefits. They might be actively seeking work and honing . . . their resumes or interviewing skills. More often than not, one can assume that they are glued to their couches in sweatpants, watching daytime television. [Example:] The employmentally challenged woman slept until 11 a.m. and then pretended to search for jobs on Craigslist, while spending hours and hours on Facebook. ”
I hope that we can all chuckle or even get a belly laugh out of that one. I know I did. In addition to the humor, the joke alludes to some real-life points about handling unemployment. As is so often the case, humor is humorous because of its truth connection. Here are two real-life points that I see:
1—It Is Okay To Disengage. Life is always stressful in one way or another. Being in between jobs is usually extremely stressful. Although looking for a new position should be your new fulltime job, you have to recognize your humanity. Sometimes, we just need to disengage from the treadmill of it all. That means it is okay to veg out. It is okay to relax and enjoy some diversions. We are not built to run continuously at full power. We need times to refresh.
2—Do Not Forget To Reengage. As important as the disengagement is, reengagement is equally important. It is okay to have fun. Nevertheless, you must also discipline yourself to reengage in the process of searching for a new job. This means you must use your time productively and wisely. If you do this, it soon should contribute to changing your status from one of being employmentally challenged to being fully employed once again.
These are probably good points for handling any difficulty. Disengage, reengage, and repeat.
