I am familiar with logical fallacies & I feel a little bit insulted by the fact that you think I'm not, but I can live with it.

I think you might be right about my motivation (wanting closure & to be on friendly terms). You seem to have a good sense about people. I feel better now, because I feel more understood.

My main motivation for responding to your comment was to expose the OP to a bit of discussion coming from both sides (well actually, I think we are both really near the middle -- one side would be, "no matter what, an employment gap will always cause insurmountable difficulties" & the other would be "an employment gap never causes any kind of problems whatsoever", but those are ridiculous positions anyway).

Anyhoo, thanks for your insight & patience.

Cheers!