I caught a television news brief recently about a wild dolphin which had been spotted ailing and swimming weakly in shallow coastal waters. The wild dolphin had been captured and taken to rehabilitate in a tank at Sea World.

It was one of those quick, feel-good stories that the national news services like to choose to end their newscasts after viewers have been bombarded with fires, shootings, the Pennsylvania state budget and other tragedies. The news clips showed stages of the dolphin's progress, as humans clad in wetsuits helped it remain upright and keep its breathing hole above water; and then later, eat gobs of dead fish from their hands. In several months, the dolphin gained about 20 pounds.The morning newscasters bantered cheerily about the dolphin, but there was a part of the story that began to bother me.Over a period of months, the dolphin had become a little too accustomed to being handed dead fish. The dolphin was well enough to be released back into the wild, but only if it demonstrated that it could catch live fish. But when small live fish were released into its tank, the once-wild dolphin showed no interest in actually chasing and catching the fish.It made me wonder and theorize. It seemed that the dolphin's new learned behavior was a lot like what I had observed in one of my friends who had collected unemployment checks for 18 months.Joe was in national sales for a Fortune 500 company at the time he lost his job due to a layoff. Initially, he continued to rise at 5 a.m., don his business suit and pound the pavement looking for a job with the same vigor he had put into his former career.After a few months though, if I called him late morning, it was common to find him in sweatpants shouting back at various daytime television shows. The only other thing that got him charged up and motivated was going to the post office the day his unemployment check was due.His unemployment checks finally ended, and he took a job, but it's only a part-time job. One day a week, he checks anglers at a boat launch, disseminating information about noxious weeds, checking their catch, and making sure the fishermen rinse off the props on their boat motors. He's moved into a basement apartment and is not seeking any other employment.One day a week, Joe sees a lot of dead fish. But like the dolphin in the tank, not working for his food has become a way of life. He can no longer imagine getting out on the water and trying to catch one.