Jayne Grey

It seemed like a great idea at first. When Jayne Grey found herself unemployed in April 2009 a sense of relief washed over her. She updated her resume and applied to a couple of jobs online, but truth be told she was in no hurry to brush her teeth before noon. She felt like it was Summer Vacation again and this time it was with her amazing seven year old daughter and a nifty little severance package!

"I'm not sure which one of us first used the term “FUnEMPLOYMENT”, however it quickly caught on with my rapidly growing crew of corporately displaced friends. Sure, we were all scared to death at first. That first COBRA bill is a reality check on steroids. Despite the loss of everything material we’d ever accumulated (401K plans, luxury cars and what I like to call 'Mc Mansions'), it felt better knowing my colleagues were in the same boat. Besides, I’m not so sure that I would have found the discipline or inner strength to downsize and re-evaluate what truly means most to me in life had I immediately re-entered the workforce. Yes, to me a half-filled glass means it’s time for a refill."

So what does one do with their bad ol’ self after applying for every single job on the Internet just short of door-to-door perfume sales? Online dating you say? Funny because that’s exactly what she and all of her single unemployed friends did, for better or for worse.

"After sharing some of our collaborative stories about our adventures with online dating and life in general, I can honestly say that very little shocks me any more."

Somewhere in the middle of the chaos a promo for "The Office" came on smack in the middle of the nightly news featuring record unemployment. Jayne found herself wondering how many people just like her were watching a show about people at work and yet were about to have their cable shut off?

Jayne Grey lives in the historic district of Folsom, California with her daughter and a silver Pug.