A month ago, I had a job that was not great, but it paid the bills. It all changed one morning when the phone rang, waking me up from a deep sleep. A coworker of mine was on the phone. He said, “I’m at work, the doors are locked and the business is permanently closed. We don’t have a job anymore.” I was unprepared and shocked. We had no warning. In the last month, I have applied for over 50 jobs, and have yet to receive an interview. With bills piling up, I was beginning to panic. I had no severance pay, and my boss disappeared without giving me my last paycheck. I’m getting unemployment, but if you’ve ever had to live on it, you know it isn’t enough to get by on. While chatting on a message board, someone mentioned Mturk to me. I signed up, and within a few days, I had typed enough to pay my electric bill. It’s not a perfect solution to my situation by any means, but it is something I can do while I sit and wait for a response to my job applications. Instead of sitting here feeling like an unemployed loser, I can at least earn a few cents and pass time. I’ve worked almost nonstop since I was fourteen and it seemed strange to be idle. At least I feel like I’m working even if it isn’t quite as lucrative as my prior jobs. As the economy continues to flounder and unemployment rates continue to drop, I predict that more people will become turkers.