It's fairly sad that such an article even needs to be written. But in this day and age of people as disposable commodities, something to trade like baseball cards, the first to zero in on to reduce costs, I guess the obvious needs to be said.

There’s the executive assistant who says she’s read 20 novels in the past month. The administrator who admits she sometimes stays in her pajamas until 3 p.m. And the business analyst who found himself in a months-long video game stupor, rarely leaving the couch.

The recently unemployed are discovering that layoffs mean more than lost income: they strip away routines and social structures, leaving many people feeling trapped at home and in a rut.

Career counselors call it hitting the wall. The people who have reached that point say it can feel more like a black hole.

For Andrew Adams, a 44-year-old technology consultant who was laid off last August, the first few weeks of unemployment felt like a vacation — the first he’d had in a long time. He spent time with his infant son. He took a role in a community theater production. He caught up on movies he’d missed while working late hours.

But as the economy worsened and job prospects dwindled, the shine wore off his newfound freedom. Leisure time turned to lethargy, and each day felt worse than the last. Unemployment became a barrage of daily frustrations and disappointments.

“It’s the intangibles that no one ever talks about,” Adams said. “It’s an assault on your soul.”

Anyone else old enough to remember those high school jobs that one could just walk in, apply and get? How about those internships? Anyone remember when someone at work had a family situation they were given a break, as in a huge break?

Anyone old enough to remember when one got sick they were not fired for it?

If there is one thing that needs to be rescued in this country it is the concept work is a right. It is a right of being a citizen of this country. I didn't invent this moral imperative. FDR did and said as such.