She had twenty years in management. Earlier this year a heart attack left her unable to work for months; when she was ready again, she began applying. Five or six months later she had nothing. She was too qualified to be hired as a cashier, and at management level she was strung along through two or three interviews and then passed over for an internal candidate — an email she received the day before.
Her child, who now holds the only job in the house, had warned her. When they were the one unable to get a single interview, she could not believe it — surely you simply walk in, shake a hand, and someone likes your moxie. She does not say that anymore.