On an Island -- unemployment and social contacts

Yesterday I wrote a brief note about how our jobs become a large part of our identity. The focus was on how a profession gives us identifying markers that underline our social status and mark us as interesting people.

But having a job or profession also builds our identities through giving us social contact as well. One of the toughest things I've found about living in Houston is that not only do I have few social contacts, but the fact that I'm unemployed makes developing social contacts an order of magnitude more difficult.

Below the jump, I discuss these dynamics in more detail.
Think about it: much of the social contact you have on a day-to-day basis is with your colleagues at work. Professions vary in the amount and quality of social contact on the job, but most in professions you'll have co-workers. And on the job, your work gives you something in common. Even if the job is horrible, your bad boss, the lousy scheduling or other difficulties provide a place to bond with other human beings -- your coworkers. If the job is satisfying, you and your colleagues will probably have the opportunity to develop deeper friendships that can transcend time.When we have jobs, we take these interactions for granted.

My last two jobs encouraged me to get to know a lot of people. Like many grad students, I taught to work my way through graduate school and at least twice a week I would interact with more than 50 students for an hour. The contact was a natural part of the profession, but it was considerable social contact all the same. Ditto for my previous job as a journalist: I had to make contacts with dozens of people in the communities I covered to do my job well. Much of that contact was "professional," but I developed a great number of acquaintances and several friendships.

Being in school provides the same opportunities.  Even when you go off to college in a faraway place and you don't know anyone,  the adjustment can be hard. But you're always in class with fellow students and interacting with them.

When you're in a new place and know few people in town, however, unemployment also removes your easiest avenue for social interaction and developing friends.  Some readers might suggest that this is a great opportunity to actually go out in the community and join groups. But the truth is in my experience that relationships developed through coworkers actually make it easier to join outside activities.  In grad school, my extra curricular activity was working with the labor union that represented graduate employees. But I didn't just find it randomly, it was my fellow grad students that introduced me to the organization.

Finally, the fact that you don't have an income exacerbates that because without money it's more difficult to join organizations you might want to get involved with.

Don't get the idea that I'm just a blogger sitting in his mom's basement. (My mother is 1,500 miles away and I'm on an upper floor -- with windows and everything). I'm also slowly working on developing contacts and friends in this town. The process is just much slower, more deliberate for an unemployed person.