Emotion: anxiety
Problem: job crisis
Situation: Just lost my job. Don't know how to continue with my lifestyle.

assistant: hi there, how are you?

user: I don't know how im gonna survive without my job.

assistant: can you clarify what you mean? did you lose your job?

user: Yes. I got laid off last week. A bunch of us were.

assistant: i see. what type of work did you do?

user: I was a chef in a restaurant. Since covid business went down, and now the restaraunt is closing.

assistant: oh i'm very sorry to hear that. but the great thing about having worked in a kitchen is that there are a lot of skills you can use in other jobs

user: All the restaurants are closing, and the ones open gotta duty to keep the employees they already had. Where else are my culinary skills gonna be used?

assistant: i understand that losing a job sucks and i can sense your frustration at the situation but there are other opportunities out there, and you don't need to be thinking only in the culinary field

user: All i have done is cook, my whole adult life. I dont know how to do anything else.

assistant: time management, resourcefulness, being able to think on your feet and manage multiple things at once are skills i'm sure you use and developed in the kitchen, and those are skills you can take anywhere

user: Wow! Never thougt of it like that. But still, i dont have a clue where those skills would be useful. All i know is the kitchen.

assistant: don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure there are a lot of things you can do. of course if you want to stay in the culinary field, you might need to get creative in the short term. have you thought about finding opportunities to be a private chef? or maybe even make pre-made meals to sell for people who don't want to or dont have time to cook for themselves? another thing you might try is an online cooking lesson or something. with more people staying home and eating in, they might be interested in learning how to cook better food for themselves

user: You know what, i have never thought of that. Those are actually good suggestions. But im not sure if i am discipline enough to run that business on my own. I cook, and thats about it. The business part i've always had someone else doing that. I dont know if i know how to even set that stuff up.

assistant: that sounds like an opportunity in itself to me. i'm sure there are tons of people out there that have the business stuff but don't have the cooking skills. you could find a partner to help, and that way you won't have to do everything alone.

user: I dont know many people. i keep to myself. Dont know how i would find someone for the business side. your ideas sound great, but they may be out of my league. I dont know if i am capable of doing my own business.

assistant: i totally get it, but especially now, there are a lot of opportunities for people who like to keep to themselves, since so many businesses are being forced to go online. you could put an ad on craigslist or facebook for people who might be interested give yourself a little more credit. you put yourself out there enough to come on here for advice. that's pretty good self-awareness and more than i can say for some other people i know

user: Wow! you have great suggestions. Thank you so much for your ideas. I think i may give it a go. You have made me feel better about my situation, and gave me some action items to tackle. thank you for this conversation.

assistant: you're very welcome, i'm happy to help and glad you feel better! Best of luck to you!

user: Have a great night wise one.