Comments on: In God We Trust: Your Money and a Higher Power

By: SLCCOM

SLCCOM — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:50:19 +0000

Trent, it sounds to me like “Randall” might well be suffering from depression, especially if you have noticed that he loses his temper a lot. Encouraging him to join a group of job seekers, or to get therapy, would likely be helpful.

By: Paula @ Afford Anything

Paula @ Afford Anything — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:49:50 +0000

This reminds me of another joke:

A man named Josh prays every day, “God, help me win the lottery. God, help me win the lottery.”

One day a voice calls down from the Heavens:
“Josh, buy a ticket!!”

(**Disclaimer: I’m not supporting playing the lottery. It’s just a joke.)

By: deRuiter

deRuiter — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:12:10 +0000

As a landlord with many low income tenants, it is no surprise that there are people on unemployment not looking for work. Many of my tenants are laid off from time to time and when I ask about job hunting, they brush me off and ignore the question. Finally one of them told me, “If I get unemployment, I get $20./week less than when I work. On unemployment I have no commuting costs, no clock to punch, no boss, and loads of free time, why should I look for work?” And magically, a week before the unemployment runs out, each one manages to get a job. Having 99 weeks unemployment instead of 50 means that they all get longer vacations on the taxpayer dollar.

By: katiebird

katiebird — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:08:21 +0000

great post, thanks.

By: Joan

Joan — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:11:47 +0000

I will add the saying “God helps those who help themselves”.

By: David

David — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:20:59 +0000

An even older joke came to my mind – a sign that is increasingly displayed, times being what they are:

In God we trust. Everyone else pays cash.

By: Meg

Meg — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:45:54 +0000

Similar to “God will provide” I am part of another group that sometimes uses “way will open” if a plan is divinely inspired. And implies that if the plan is not right “way won’t open”. I often found the first a very upper class attitude because some times way opening meant access to money and resources. And other times “way not opening” meant not being willing to give up what was getting in the way.

By: TLS

TLS — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:45:37 +0000

I immediately thought of the story described in comments 1 and 2 as well.

I have a person close to me in a similar situation. Her family is having major financial difficulties, including unemployment problems, bankruptcy and foreclosure. She keeps repeating that ‘everything is going to be fine’ but the situation is bad and could easily spiral out of control. I am scared for this person, and I believe she is in denial about how bad it is. If I say anything about it, I get blasted for not being ‘optimistic’ about the situation.

This just makes me so sad. Face the problem head on, and deal with it. This won’t be easy, but at least you will be moving in the right direction.

By: Vanessa

Vanessa — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:39:16 +0000

How long has “Randall” been unemployed? Two months, two years? What is the nature of his “deep financial, personal, and professional crisis”? Maybe what looks like a crisis from the outside isn’t that critical from his perspective. Not everyone has a take-charge type of personality. People have to solve their problems at their own pace.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:34:40 +0000

@Liz

Hmm, it must be state specific … I know that in Iowa, you have to actually be looking, though.

It mostly bugs me because Trent has SO many friends/acquaintances that are unemployed but not looking for work and just happy collecting unemployment.

By: Kerry D.

Kerry D. — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:11:40 +0000

I agree with the overall point of the post–sitting back and waiting for things to fall into place is not likely to lead to success and the life of one’s dreams. I have two relatives recently laid off, who are collecting unemployment, living with parents and not paying rent, and spending their time and money going to Pokemon tournaments. Not looking for work, nor education…It’s just sad that they are not creating opportunities for themselves.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:51:57 +0000

It’s annoying when Trent does this “who I’ll call Randall” – giving random names to people you know.

By: Katie

Katie — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:18:31 +0000

Maybe Randall just wasn’t interested in discussing the details of his job search with a nosy friend.

By: Liz

Liz — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:15:52 +0000

@Tracy: I always thought that you had to be looking for work to get unemployment as well, but that’s apparently not true. I recently helped a friend with no computer skills file their semi-weekly unemployment request online, and the only requirements in Pennsylvania were “available to work” and “did not turn down work”. Which kind of annoyed me because “available” and “seeking” are not the same thing to me, but that’s a whole other thread…
On the other hand, he is only “partially” unemployed, as he used to be fulltime, and his employer cut him to occasional shifts (like 8 hours every 3 or 4 weeks). And he is looking, but the unemployment website doesn’t ASK if he’s looking, or require any kind of evidence. There just isn’t much that he is qualified for in this area, and since he has small children he doesn’t really want to leave the region.
Interestingly, the state is also picking up part of his child support while he’s unemployed (not sure if he has to pay that back or not once he has a job again).

By: AnnJo

AnnJo — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:02:36 +0000

Warning — Grammar Police.

You use “who” for the subject of a sentence and “whom” for the object. If you’re not sure which you’re dealing with, restructure the sentence to use a pronoun. If you’d use “he” or “she” or “I” or “they” then “who” is correct; if you’d use “him” or “her” or “me” or “them” then “whom” is correct.

Thus: “who I’ll call Randall” becomes “I’ll call him Randall” and tells you the correct choice was “whom.”

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:57:51 +0000

How thought provoking. I recently saw a post on facebook from a distant relative, who wrecked her car and replaced it with a new one. She’s got a lot of money issues that sound like your friend, and she made a comment about being blessed to get financing. I thought to myself, huh never considered God’s impact on my ability to be approved for a loan. Also, wouldn’t be happy that God caused me a car accident and a new set of car payments.
I liked the way you put this, because I prefer to believe that the higher power isn’t involved in my everyday affairs, but cares that I make the right choices for me and my family.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:53:59 +0000

I do want to point out that you *can’t* draw unemployment if you’re not actively looking for a job. Granted, I know that people can manipulate the system by deliberately applying for jobs that they don’t qualify for, but it’s just because “Randall” isn’t doing what *you* think he should do, doesn’t mean he’s not looking.

Unless he’s committing fraud, in which case you should probably ask him if thinks God approves of that.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:32:52 +0000

Your post greatly reminded me of a ‘joke’ my husband told me recently:

An announcement on the radio foretells a great storm coming and advices everybody in a certain village to evacuate.
One man sees countless people fleeing the town but he stays put. God will save me, he thinks.

As the water rises, the man is forced to the top floor of his home. A rowing boat comes by and offers him a lift. He declines because “God will save me”.

When the rising water finally forces him on the roof and a helicopter comes by the man again declines the offer of a lift to safety. “Thank you but God will save me.”

The poor man drowns and when he meets his maker he asks: “Lord, why have you not saved me? I so trusted in you!”

And the Lord answers: I sent you a radio announcement, a rowboat and a helicopter! What more would you have of me!!

Moral of the story is of course: God helps those who help themselves!

Thanks for a great post!

By: lurker carl

lurker carl — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:29:19 +0000

This reminds me of an old joke. A man heard about an impending flood on the radio and remarked that God would spare him. He later heard the evacuation notice on TV and again remarked that God would spare his life. The next morning, a firetruck with a public address system came around urging anyone remaining to climb aboard and leave immediately, still he assured himself that God would spare him. Soon the flood waters rose and a police boat paddled to his porch to whisk him to safety but the man refused saying God would spare him. The waters rose even higher, the man chopped a hole through the roof and a rescue helicopter tried to take the man to safety but he again refused as God would spare him. Then the flood waters enveloped the house and the man died. When the man arrived in heaven, he asked God why his life was not spared. God replied, “Well, I warned you on the radio and TV, then I sent a firetruck, a police boat and finally a helicopter to rescue you. Could I have done anything more if you wouldn’t take the first step to spare yourself?”