Everybody Buys You Dinner When You're Laid Off

A song written in 1923 proclaims that, "Nobody knows you when you're down and out". My recent experience has been different. Six months ago, I moved 3000 miles for a job and three weeks ago my position was eliminated because of the financial crisis. The day I got the word, two people at my organization made dates to take me out to lunch, and did so before I left. Since then, I am seeing as many friends and family members on this coast as I can before I move back to the other. I drove up to Rockland County to see two friends, who wouldn't let me pay. "It's the layoff special", one of them said. My cousin and her husband invited me for lunch. My other cousin and her husband took me out, and wouldn't even let me buy ice cream after dinner. I visited a couple of old friends in the Berkshires, staying with them for two nights, and they wouldn't even let me pay for the take-out Chinese food. Today I had lunch with a friend from school. Same story. They say that, when looking for employment, you should focus on what you do best. I briefly had the wild idea of trying to make a living by eating out, but I don't quite see how it could work.