Episode Information

It's almost a year ago since the day -- December 23, 2009, but who's keeping track -- that my boss at the old radio station called me and told me they were terminating. And oh, would I be OK staying on the air for another week so that they could announce this on New Year's Eve?

I remember the show that afternoon was like some kind of liquid dream. I was floating in the job I used to have, drifting up and bobbing away from my old moorings.  I am lucky, lucky, lucky. I never had to face the real horrors of joblessness.

I got freelance work. I kept kind of busy. And this job was, ultimately, only nine months away.

But this is still technically only a temporary job. I still don't feel the way I felt for the rest of my adult life -- that I knew I would always have employment. My story is nothing. Millions of Americans have suffered a deeper, sharper shock. You'll hear from some of them today.

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