Former Aloha Airlines customer service agent Joe Kauweloa never thought he'd be one of those guys collecting unemployment insurance.

Especially at the age of 55. He had been looking ahead to retirement instead of unemployment.

"I've been 35 years with Aloha," he said yesterday. "I never thought I'd be out on the street. I never thought I'd be on unemployment. I can't believe it."

With Aloha Airline's sudden announcement on Sunday that it was shutting down its passenger service, Kauweloa represents a generation of the 1,900 out-of-work employees who are dealing with the emotional hurdle of collecting unemployment insurance.

"It's something I never thought I'd be doing," said customer service agent Harry Shupe, 58, who filed his claim online with the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations this week. "I had a good job. We gave everything to the company. And now this."

It's a stigma that seems to be primarily held by middle-aged and older workers.

Amber-Lynn Hyden, who was an Aloha flight attendant, sees unemployment benefits differently at the age of 22.

"For the younger ones, while we never saw ourselves on unemployment, either, we don't see ourselves working for the same company for life," Hyden said. "You've got to keep your options open in any industry and stay on top of things. All of the industries seem to have some uncertainty."

Hyden typically works two or three different jobs at once, gets bored easily and doesn't have any set career goal.

She figures she's had at least 12 separate jobs since she was old enough to work at the age of 14 years and 9 months.

But her four years as an Aloha flight attendant represented the longest she's ever held the same job.

"I've either been at a bar or Horizon Lines, a realty company, usually a restaurant," she said. "I think I'm a female version of Peter Pan. I'm such a free spirit and I don't want to be locked down in the same job for years. I like to challenge myself. When the challenge is over, I move on."

It's the same kind of attitude that translates to her feelings about collecting unemployment insurance.

"Unemployment is a tool," Hyden said. "It gives you a small amount of money to give you time to look for something else.

Other former Aloha employees still aren't ready to address the realities of life after Aloha, which include filing their unemployment claims.

Like many other out-of-work Aloha employees, Trudy Tom is still hoping a miracle saves her beloved airline, the place she's worked at since 1991.

"I was actually hoping Oprah would show up with her 'Big Give' (reality television show)," Tom said. "I am so serious about that. Other employees have e-mailed the 'Big Give' but we haven't gotten a response yet."

Tom had been the customer service manager in Hilo for the past eight years and still is looked upon as the boss, even though everyone is out of work.

"I'm sitting here with a stack of files all around me," Tom said yesterday on her cell phone after an employee meeting on employment benefits. "Even if we don't get paid, I'm not going to leave this place a mess. This was our home."

Tom will celebrate her 46th birthday next week. She'll also fly to Florida on April 10 for her daughter's wedding, when she'll have to deal with the emotion of paying to fly on Northwest instead of using her old Aloha flight privileges.

It's all enough to push back the unpleasantness of dealing with the reality of things like unemployment insurance, Tom said.

"I know I'm not going to have enough to cover me," she said. "And I know I'm going to really have to go out and look for work. But right now, I'm totally overwhelmed."

SHARE ALOHA ON LINE

Former Aloha Airlines flight attendant Valerie Sugawa and her husband David, a pharmacist, have created a Web site they hope will serve as a clearinghouse between necessary, household items and out-of-work Aloha employees: sharealoha.wordpress .com.

"I know Aloha people and they're not the type to take anything," Sugawa said. "They're so giving and I know during this time that they're going to have to accept help."

She hopes people and businesses donate everything from diapers to used business clothes to help workers find new jobs.

"Anything from gift cards to toilet paper," she said.