I have a question for all of you out there that not only do I need an answer to but I have a friend who needs this answer as well. But first, a little background:

I have a friend who lives in Utah named Don. Don is a good guy, he tries to take care of his family the best he can and he doesn't usually involve himself with politics. Don has been looking for a job for over two years now after the last company he worked for sent his job overseas. He has been looking everywhere for employment - the classifieds in the local fishwrap, CareerBuilder, Monster, HotJobs, he has been trying to network, he has done everything he can think of to get work, but he just can't get hired for some reason.

He's no longer collecting unemployment either - that ran out after six months and the federal extension ran out after an additional three months. He and his wife then had to live on their savings, their 401k and interest from other investments that they made. Because the market crashed they are not getting as much return on their investments and their savings are almost gone. They don't try to live beyond their means, but when you have three kids to raise sometimes belt-tightening can be a little tough.

Not too long ago Don was at a neigborhood block party and he overheard someone ranting about how lazy people who were unemployed actually were. This guy was saying that people who don't have a job actually don't want to work because they are sitting on their lazy asses collecting unemployment. Don overheard this and took issue with the guy. Don told him that he was unemployed, and that he had been looking for a job for over two years. So what was this guy's response?

"Well you're just not trying hard enough then, are you?"

Don: "How do you know I'm not trying hard enough? How do you know what I am doing? You don't even care that I'm reading the paper everyday, going online every day or asking around if anybody's hiring? You think that's not trying hard enough?"

"Do you have a job?"

"No."

"Then you're not trying hard enough. It probably doesn't even matter because who would want to hire a little pissant like you anyway? You probably can't get a job because you screwed up at your last one. That's why nobody wants you, it's because you're a screw-up who can't do anything right, isn't it?"

"Hey, the only reason I lost my job is because the company I worked for sent my job overseas so that they can save money. I didn't do anything wrong, but it's guys like you who want to try to make me feel guilty because I haven't been able to get hired yet. How about you, do you have a job?"

"What do you think?"

"I'm asking you, do you?"

"Yeah."

"Is the company you work for hiring right now?"

"I don't know, I guess."

"Then how about you solve both of our problems? You hate it when people are unemployed, I'm looking for a job so that I can pay my mortgage, keep the lights and the heat turned on and put food on the table for my family. How about you solve both of our problems and give me a job?"

This guy was stunned at first (according to Don) but then he looked at Don right in the eyes and with a sneer on his face said:

"I don't give handouts."

And with that he turned on his heels and walked away.

So, with that here is my question:

Since when did we get to the point in this country where hiring someone to do a job is now considered to be a handout?

Since when did sending someone your resume in response to an ad, or physically filling out a job application and handing it in, or even the idea of applying for a job become the same as panhandling?

I really would like to know because I have run into the same attitudes myself. I have been looking for a job for nearly six years now. Well, that's not quite accurate - I can find jobs with no problem, getting someone to hire me is the problem. And like Don I no longer collect unemployment as my benefits ran out over five years ago. Today marks the 2,155th day since I last held a "real job", and like Don I was downsized by my company. As of today I have sent out 1,013 resumes and applications looking for work in two staes. Out of all of that I have gone on 51 interviews. If you do the math and turn that into a batting average, that's an average of .050, waaaaaay below the Mendoza Line! So it hasn't been like I've been sitting on my ass either.

So if someone can answer those questions for us, maybe it would help us understand why some people consider us to be worthless bums instead of Americans trying to support their families.