It's been 8 months! (Not counting those few weeks at that small Allstate place.)
And he's getting no unemployment insurance or other assistance (well, maybe his mom mailed him a little suttin' suttin' he didn't tell me about).
Alright then, I guess this better explains why he's snatching onto clearly poor job choices.
That small agency in Deltona...I knew right away that one would fall out. Ric's not the "cozy neighborhood office" type. I could tell just by reading a little about that business online...they were your typical small town, mom and pop insurance agency where they take pride in their community and volunteer and donate to local non-profit causes, are members of the Kiwanis Club, the Lions, the Rotary, etc. You know the type. Ric doesn't fit into that category. He's not gonna do a meet n' greet at the Saturday night spaghetti dinner fundraiser at the local VFW.
Now, today (well, yesterday now), he takes a part-time job at a bike shop for $10/hr.
That guy Wilmer is continually in touch with him too, preaching that he should join him in North Carolina to manage a Cici's Pizza up there for him (he's a regional manager). Says he promises Ric would be starting at $38K a year as an assistant manager then, once he's "fast tracked" to store manager he'd be pulling in $50K. Mind you, even $50K is less than he was making at Farmer's...so he told me, back then. Yes, he liked to boast how much he made sitting in a cramped half cubicle playing Time-Life Sally.
Although I can't be certain, I don't think Ric was fired from Farmer's. For one, he'd be "collecting" if he was. Two, he is the type to grow weary of the same-old, same-old; and with his ego, the pressures he was feeling from management there could well have built up over time to become the camel with his back-breaking straw load. But man this is the worst shithole I've ever seen him in.
He says it's a bitter cold market out there for job seekers. Especially at our age. I can only imagine. I shudder at the thought of losing my job. I'm too fuckin' old to go through that shit again.
Oh, and let's not forget Ric still has that court date in Georgia. Yup, that DUI charge is still hanging over his head. I think it's mid-May? He's really in it if that shit isn't cleared up quick. His lawyer costs, having to travel to Georgia and the undoubted stress he's dealing with having this all so unresolved.
I told him, after he asked me no less than five times on the phone, to go ahead and take Wilmer's offer. Ric would have to move to NC and endure their winters which he absolutely dreads. But it might be his best option at this point. The longer this unemployment (and a part time retail job doesn't really factor in resolving the situation, it'll just help stem the hemorrhage a little) goes on, the deeper his depression gets and lower his marketability becomes.
Believe me, I sure as hell know what I'm talking about.