Recession Cessation

Now that the recession is officially over, I want to know where my damn job is. If the tough times are indeed behind us, as touted on every major newspaper/website in this country and many others, I should be overjoyed. Let's look a the numbers, shall we?

• 19: months I've been laid off +/or marginally employed
• 6: times I've moved in those 19 months, including twice over the Atlantic, looking for work
• 7: number of local addresses I have on current resumes
• 300+: architecture, interiors, CAD operator, design assistant jobs I've applied for
• 150: number of 'other' jobs I've applied for including cashier, receptionist, and waitress
• 4: current hours per week I'm being offered employment, at minimum wage
• 8: dollars per hour which represents minimum wage in the US
• 80: thousand dollars, my last salary offer before the world crashed
• 13: months I've spent living with (read: being supported by) my family members
• 1 Billion: tears I've shed as I watched my savings dwindle, my debt increase, my dignity evaporate, and my future crumble all while knowing there is nothing I can do about it.

So now that "surprising gains have been made" by the US economy and this nasty little downturn has swung back upward, why am I still begging for minimum wages jobs? I don't even feel like an architect any more. I feel like I've been posing as one, like I just got caught and I'm being punished. Except I do have the credentials and the experience. I just don't have a job. Which is humiliating. All that time and effort to get my education so I'd never have to be dependant, so I'd always be able to take care of myself, have a secure future... pooofffff! gone in a New York Minute. Recovery, however, takes years.