Hard to Get a Job

Question:

I just returned home for 5 weeks from my first semester of college. My parents
give me a weekly allowance and said they would continue as long as I was home.
Suddenly my mother has changed her mind and says that I will get no money and
that I have to get a job for as long as I’m home. I’ve called and applied but no
place that I know is hiring. I pay for my own gas so receiving money from my
parents is a big deal. I worked every day for the past 2 summers but that job
isn’t available in the winter. I feel like they don’t understand how hard it is
to get a job and that this is unfair. Any advice?

Phyllis replied:

Obviously, I don’t know the whole situation, so there are many factors that might be at play here.  Jobs are certainly hard to get, but perhaps there is something in this holiday season you are overlooking–some store that would like extra help.  I don’t know how hard you’ve looked. And I don’t know what prompted your mother’s change of heart.  Is she herself overworked, perhaps, and your sleeping late and lounging about the house annoys her?  If neither of these are true, and if you have honestly tried store after store for a job with no success, I suggest you make a list of all the places you have tried, show it to your mother, and ask for her suggestions.  It’s possible that just showing a little regard for her own obligations might be all that she really wants.  After you’ve shown her your list, ask her if there’s anything you might do while you’re home that would help her.  Clean out closets?  Paint a room?  Sort through old magazines?  Vacuum out her car?   You also are entitled to a little R&R, but it may be that your personal help around the house would mean more to her than anything else.