Carolyn Hax: He changes jobs as if he were changing socks

He changes jobs as if he were changing socks

Adapted from a recent online
discussion.

Dear Carolyn: My husband just quit his job. Again. Third this year, sixth in four years. He's sort of a jack of all trades, but mostly works in restaurants. I've always been the higher earner, so we're stable enough and I don't really mind about the irregular income. But it affects everything at home, every time: He's unhappy in the job, which brings down the atmosphere at home. Then he quits and feels insecure and tense about being jobless, so everything at home is also insecure and tense. Then he eventually gets a new job and things get better.

Right now, we can't make plans to see family, for example, because who knows if he'll have to work and he won't have built up any vacation time. I tried to talk about this after the most recent quitting, but our conversations about it have been unproductive, because he's so tense and ratty.