When I was 13, my dad left one job after he had been offered another one – and the new job fell through. My parents had only just taken out a mortgage, and now dad was unemployed ... The events which pushed dad into unemployment were entirely beyond his control – just like Holden's collapse is not to blame on its workers – but he was humiliated by them anyway. He was a man who defined himself by a willingness to work hard, and his ambitions were simple: to look after my mother and provide his only child everything he could to realise her dreams. When he became unemployed the two simple pillars of his character – his self-belief and role as a provider – were annihilated by forces beyond his control. I can now write about this openly only because my beloved father is dead. He was a fantastically resilient man who never cried but with the sense of personal failure that accompanied the disappearance of his income, he talked about killing himself. He raged at my mother for staying with him. He raged at me and when I made him a cheese toastie as a peace offering, he hurled it against the wall. I had failed to comprehend that my acts of charity were corroding any self-esteem he had left.

A total of six weeks.

It turns out thatcolumnist Van Badham’s capacity for indulgent hysteria was inherited from her father Or maybe he just didn’t like crappy sandwiches. Throw it on the ground ! Anyway, for how long did this fellow endure what Badham describes as the “horrific stress of unemployment” and “the soul-shattering destruction of pride that goes with unemployment”? How long did it take before this victim of vicious capitalism found another job?UPDATE. The extract above is now expanded to give even greater insight into Van's family tragedy, which basically goes like this: Dad quit his job. Then his new job didn't happen. A month-and-a-half later, he got a job somewhere else. In the meantime he threw away a sandwich. This took place 22 years ago. The end.