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The US 12 Bar and Grill in Wayne, Michigan has an unusually-timed happy hour. Drink specials start at 9 pm, scheduled to attract local auto workers getting off second shift. For $3, the bartender pours me a full rocks glass of Grand Marnier. I appear to be the only female patron in the bar, which perhaps explains why the guys tolerate my incessant questions about how the recession has affected their industry and labor contracts.
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Darwin and Laura Moore know things could always be worse. The aneurysm Darwin had earlier this year may make him now un-insurable and unable to afford scheduled follow-up care, but it could have killed him. The area's 15% unemployment rate made it impossible to land any job, much less one with health benefits, but that steered the couple's path into achieving their dream of owning a small business--even if they had to finance its purchase with credit cards.
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Since being laid off eight months ago, Deanna Steuernagel and Shawn Burke have become most disillusioned by the frequency with which they've encountered various scams specifically targeting the unemployed. Unscrupulous greed clearly holds no sympathy for the downtrodden. Considering the months of delay tactics Chase Bank has employed on Deanna's loan modification application, forestalling a decision until she completely depleted her savings, it would not surprise her to receive notice that she doesn't qualify for Obama's Hope Now program because this month she finally defaulted on her mortgage.
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Of all the people I've met on this trip, Ben Robertson may have adopted the wisest and consequently most successful approach to finding new employment following a job loss. Unemployed in Colorado after mass layoffs from the natural gas fields, Ben began researching jobless statistics state-by-state. He and his wife Lily had never considered living in North Dakota before, but with an unemployment rate running roughly half the national average, Ben concluded: "You have to go where the jobs are."
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"Home," Crystal says, drawing one hand to her chest as the other catches a welling tear before it spills down her face. "Just speaking that word now is enough to make my heart flutter." After four months sleeping on fold-out cots and air mattresses at a succession of different churches, Crystal, husband Robert, and four children--aged four through thirteen--have finally found their way "home." Of course this story holds elements of heartbreak, exploitation, and outrage, though their own indelible recession memories will more likely recall fires of adversity forging familial bonds as strong as steel, and the boundless endurance and faith these times compelled them to discover within themselves.
Read More
The descent into homelessness can be equated to falling off a cliff. Wealth buys passage on toll roads a safe distance from the edge, but poverty's foot path runs along the craggy and unstable lip of a gaping precipice. Emma and her family hit a few ledges on the way down, blown by winds of misfortune every time they began to regain stable footing. As Emma describes their story: "It's too much bad luck for anyone to believe."
Read More
Working on this piece began as an effort to determine the top ten best things about the recession, but the responses received via Twitter necessitated I lengthen the list. So what follows are nineteen reasons to love the recession, as suggested by my Tweeple. You may agree with some, disagree with others, and laugh at a few. Feel free to add your own in the comments, send me a suggestion via Twitter @recessionroadie, or email an idea to recessionroad@gmail.com.
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"For me the recession and getting laid off has been transformative. It brings to a head what I really value." says Alex Gargarita, 45-year-old single father of two. Alex is one of thousands left jobless because of the tech industry contraction in Silicon Valley, but rather than viewing the career disruption as hardship or professional setback, he plans to use his downtime as an opportunity to reinvent his life and self.
Read More
Elizabeth looks weary, pale, and drawn, gently wringing her hands, toying with the hospital admittance bracelet still encircling her wrist. Slumped in the kind of canvas camping chair that makes any other sitting position a feat of strenuous exertion, Elizabeth closely watches Charles, her husband of forty-one years, as he bashes around inside the donated tent, arranging their borrowed bedding. Their 5-piece set of matching maroon luggage might not all fit inside, but the couple will have a roof-of-sorts for the night, sleeping side-by-side as two of the country's newest homeless citizens.
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"These days, I want to do what makes me happy. It's not about the money anymore," Edwin Duterte explains as we're talking over chilled sangria in a Pasadena bar. Edwin was laid off from commercial real estate in January 2008. The 39-year-old moved back home to live with his parents this year after paying rent became difficult. With savings depleted, his now-unaffordable health insurance will expire this month. Despite his personal circumstances, what makes Edwin happy these days is doing what he can to help other unemployed people find jobs. Read More
Just after formulating the lofty generalization of an American propensity for wandering in search of opportunity, untethered to any particular geography, I met someone who reminded me that the nation's cultural mosaic represents a vibrantly intricate pattern not easily defined with such broad absolutes. Alvin Yazzi's ancestors lived on what we now call American soil long before the colonists, pilgrims or European explorers journeyed to the "new" world. Laid off two months ago, Alvin does not entertain thoughts of moving away from the Navajo Nation, though unemployment on the reservation surpasses 40 percent. Read More
In February, David Walters and Laurel Sprague left Georgia for New Mexico in search of better employment prospects. The young couple now lives in an RV at a KOA campground in Bernalillo, where they work two days a week for a combined income of $900 a month, plus free rent. Savings have been depleted; they're starting to rely on credit cards. From an outside perspective, one might pass precipitous judgment that David and Laurel have had their lives torn asunder by the recession. But they choose to view their life as an adventure. Read More
Pat Poole was laid off from his construction job in April. Someone stole his motorcycle in May. When I meet the 49-year-old at a gas station on US 40 in eastern Utah, three dollars and change represents his entire net worth. By now, Pat has been on the road for more than a month, hitchhiking thousands of miles from Sarasota, Florida, driven by strangers and sustained by hopes that he will arrive to find a more fertile job market in Utah.
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Since Tim Christiansen was laid off the week before Christmas last year, his wife Porsche has learned many lessons unanticipated in the meticulous life plan she used to have. Like how to let go of those plans and live for today. How to barter services, such as mending in exchange for diapers. How to apply for food stamps. How to make her own detergent. And that her husband is even more amazing than she realized when she married him.
Read More
They began lining up in the darkened parking lot by 3:30 am. At least a thousand had joined their weary ranks when the doors opened at 9. They weren't waiting for a chance to trade a clunker for cash, or tickets to witness a cosmic resurrection of Michael Jackson. The Back-to School Fair was distributing free backpacks and school supplies on Saturday, and these parents and their children wanted to make sure they arrived before stock ran out.
Read More
Antony Roger Ellington III began his own kind of recession roadtrip last night. With a two-week route planned through Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana, Antony hopes somewhere, someone will have a job for him. His pride suffering from three months of unemployment, he doesn't much care where he ends up living, as long as there is work to be done.
Read More
The paved drive turns off Colbert Road--its surface unblemished by any cracks, its curbs as pale and pristine as the day a hot Florida sun dried the cement. Elaborate landscaping--albeit somewhat overgrown--frames the entrance to a short bridge embellished with decorative siderails designed to resemble hand-forged wrought-iron latticework. Crossing over the drainage culvert leads to...nothing.
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Results tagged “unemployment”
The US 12 Bar and Grill in Wayne, Michigan has an unusually-timed happy hour. Drink specials start at 9 pm, scheduled to attract local auto workers getting off second shift. For $3, the bartender pours me a full rocks glass of Grand Marnier. I appear to be the only female patron in the bar, which perhaps explains why the guys tolerate my incessant questions about how the recession has affected their industry and labor contracts.
Darwin and Laura Moore know things could always be worse. The aneurysm Darwin had earlier this year may make him now un-insurable and unable to afford scheduled follow-up care, but it could have killed him. The area's 15% unemployment rate made it impossible to land any job, much less one with health benefits, but that steered the couple's path into achieving their dream of owning a small business--even if they had to finance its purchase with credit cards.Since being laid off eight months ago, Deanna Steuernagel and Shawn Burke have become most disillusioned by the frequency with which they've encountered various scams specifically targeting the unemployed. Unscrupulous greed clearly holds no sympathy for the downtrodden. Considering the months of delay tactics Chase Bank has employed on Deanna's loan modification application, forestalling a decision until she completely depleted her savings, it would not surprise her to receive notice that she doesn't qualify for Obama's Hope Now program because this month she finally defaulted on her mortgage.
Read More
"Home," Crystal says, drawing one hand to her chest as the other catches a welling tear before it spills down her face. "Just speaking that word now is enough to make my heart flutter." After four months sleeping on fold-out cots and air mattresses at a succession of different churches, Crystal, husband Robert, and four children--aged four through thirteen--have finally found their way "home." Of course this story holds elements of heartbreak, exploitation, and outrage, though their own indelible recession memories will more likely recall fires of adversity forging familial bonds as strong as steel, and the boundless endurance and faith these times compelled them to discover within themselves.Read More
The descent into homelessness can be equated to falling off a cliff. Wealth buys passage on toll roads a safe distance from the edge, but poverty's foot path runs along the craggy and unstable lip of a gaping precipice. Emma and her family hit a few ledges on the way down, blown by winds of misfortune every time they began to regain stable footing. As Emma describes their story: "It's too much bad luck for anyone to believe." Read More
Working on this piece began as an effort to determine the top ten best things about the recession, but the responses received via Twitter necessitated I lengthen the list. So what follows are nineteen reasons to love the recession, as suggested by my Tweeple. You may agree with some, disagree with others, and laugh at a few. Feel free to add your own in the comments, send me a suggestion via Twitter @recessionroadie, or email an idea to recessionroad@gmail.com.Read More
09/23/09 7:13 PM
More Recession Re-set: "I'm Tired of Slaving; I Want to Live"
"For me the recession and getting laid off has been transformative. It brings to a head what I really value." says Alex Gargarita, 45-year-old single father of two. Alex is one of thousands left jobless because of the tech industry contraction in Silicon Valley, but rather than viewing the career disruption as hardship or professional setback, he plans to use his downtime as an opportunity to reinvent his life and self.
Elizabeth looks weary, pale, and drawn, gently wringing her hands, toying with the hospital admittance bracelet still encircling her wrist. Slumped in the kind of canvas camping chair that makes any other sitting position a feat of strenuous exertion, Elizabeth closely watches Charles, her husband of forty-one years, as he bashes around inside the donated tent, arranging their borrowed bedding. Their 5-piece set of matching maroon luggage might not all fit inside, but the couple will have a roof-of-sorts for the night, sleeping side-by-side as two of the country's newest homeless citizens.Read More
On a day most California educators spent organizing supplies and going over lesson plans in preparation for the first day of school, Jean and Michael Cantius* waded through paperwork to apply for a loan modification. The Cantius household is struggling under a double-punch of the California budget crunch: Jean is one of 2,000-plus teachers the Los Angeles Unified School District could not afford to bring back for full-time positions this fall, and Michael had to accept a severe pay cut in order to keep his administration job. If their application for loan modification under Obama's mortgage relief program is rejected, Jean, Michael and their two children will lose their home. Read More
"These days, I want to do what makes me happy. It's not about the money anymore," Edwin Duterte explains as we're talking over chilled sangria in a Pasadena bar. Edwin was laid off from commercial real estate in January 2008. The 39-year-old moved back home to live with his parents this year after paying rent became difficult. With savings depleted, his now-unaffordable health insurance will expire this month. Despite his personal circumstances, what makes Edwin happy these days is doing what he can to help other unemployed people find jobs. Read More
Just after formulating the lofty generalization of an American propensity for wandering in search of opportunity, untethered to any particular geography, I met someone who reminded me that the nation's cultural mosaic represents a vibrantly intricate pattern not easily defined with such broad absolutes. Alvin Yazzi's ancestors lived on what we now call American soil long before the colonists, pilgrims or European explorers journeyed to the "new" world. Laid off two months ago, Alvin does not entertain thoughts of moving away from the Navajo Nation, though unemployment on the reservation surpasses 40 percent. Read More
In February, David Walters and Laurel Sprague left Georgia for New Mexico in search of better employment prospects. The young couple now lives in an RV at a KOA campground in Bernalillo, where they work two days a week for a combined income of $900 a month, plus free rent. Savings have been depleted; they're starting to rely on credit cards. From an outside perspective, one might pass precipitous judgment that David and Laurel have had their lives torn asunder by the recession. But they choose to view their life as an adventure. Read More
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Since Tim Christiansen was laid off the week before Christmas last year, his wife Porsche has learned many lessons unanticipated in the meticulous life plan she used to have. Like how to let go of those plans and live for today. How to barter services, such as mending in exchange for diapers. How to apply for food stamps. How to make her own detergent. And that her husband is even more amazing than she realized when she married him.
They began lining up in the darkened parking lot by 3:30 am. At least a thousand had joined their weary ranks when the doors opened at 9. They weren't waiting for a chance to trade a clunker for cash, or tickets to witness a cosmic resurrection of Michael Jackson. The Back-to School Fair was distributing free backpacks and school supplies on Saturday, and these parents and their children wanted to make sure they arrived before stock ran out.
"I did not want to go to the unemployment office to get money that way. My pride had a lot to do with it. Going to the unemployment office would have been like rock bottom for me," Kenneth Gregg explains. "I was getting close, but instead I chose to move away and keep looking for work."
07/23/09 12:01 PM
Real Recession Roadtripping: Seeking the El Dorado of Employment
Antony Roger Ellington III began his own kind of recession roadtrip last night. With a two-week route planned through Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana, Antony hopes somewhere, someone will have a job for him. His pride suffering from three months of unemployment, he doesn't much care where he ends up living, as long as there is work to be done.Read More
07/10/09 12:00 PM
A Note on Unemployment Statistics
I tried unsuccessfully to tune out Fox News blaring in the diner where I had breakfast yesterday. With some characteristic outrage, host Megyn Kelly reported that the 9.5% unemployment rate does not even include those people who have been jobless so long they've exhausted unemployment benefits--an error repeated minutes later by a FOX economic correspondent. One could argue from many angles that 9.5% underestimates the number of jobless, but the figure has nothing to do with the number of people collecting unemployment. Read on for a brief outline of the methodology the Department of Labor uses to calculate the unemployment rate. Read More
The paved drive turns off Colbert Road--its surface unblemished by any cracks, its curbs as pale and pristine as the day a hot Florida sun dried the cement. Elaborate landscaping--albeit somewhat overgrown--frames the entrance to a short bridge embellished with decorative siderails designed to resemble hand-forged wrought-iron latticework. Crossing over the drainage culvert leads to...nothing. Read More
