I’m a “99er” no more. The Great Bush Depression has finally ended for me. It lasted from 20 July 2007 to 12 May 2011. I was out of work for a mind-numbing 46 months.
I had a job interview yesterday. It was only the third face-to-face interview I’ve had since I got laid-off almost four years ago. They just called and want me to start on Thursday. I’m a little in shock actually.
I read somewhere recently that people over 50 who’ve been out of work as long as I have only have about a 30% chance of ever finding work again. So it feels great to beat the odds. I can’t help but feel bad for the other 70% though.
In my earliest posts I wrote about getting laid-off and my futile job search in the L.A. area. I sent out hundreds of resumes and had no luck finding anything. Since moving to the small town where I’m now living I’ve only applied for a couple of jobs. I’d given up. I spent my time working on this blog.
I’d check the job search emails every morning, hoping for something to match my skills. I’ve learned that applying for anything that came up was a waste of time. How many times could I be told I was ”over-qualified?”
Last week an opening in the medical field came up that asked for someone with experience using Microsoft Access and Excel. I applied. Apparently not a lot of people in this area know Access. I got the job. I got lucky. It pays about what I was making at my old job, has full benefits and is only 5 miles away.
Whew…
I plan to keep blogging in support of workers and out-of-workers. How can I not?
With the 2012 elections coming up I’m sure I’ll have plenty to say about venal and vicious Republicans and hapless Democrats.
Hang in there, ”99ers,” if I can find work after almost 4 years so can you. And remember, it’s not your fault you’re unemployed.
As Philip Dray wrote in his revelatory and timely study of the labor movement in America, There Is Power in a Union: “…poverty and unemployment did not stem from laziness or even bad luck, but rather from larger, systemic problems in the economy, in society – factors that were beyond any one person’s control.”
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Thank you for the thoughtful reply and the words of encouragement, both of which were warmly welcomed. As for Latin, it does seem a shame to see it become more and more anachronistic but then again the modern English language doesn’t seem to be faring too well either. I can’t help but wonder if text messaging and e-mails will become the death of the English language as we know it. Take for example the aforementioned Adams-Jefferson letters, which I find to have such depth and eloquence seldom heard anymore. It’s unfortunate people don’t have the emotional intelligence nor the intellectual honesty to express themselves that way anymore. By the way, indeed, Abigail Adams would have made a great president.
Interestingly enough I have studied the blogosphere extensively for my graduate thesis but have consciously decided not to start one of my own. Part of it maybe the Luddite in me and the other part feels blogging may be analogous to sending signals out into outer space. And as Bill Watterson once said, “I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.” I find that quote apropos to most blogs I’ve come across. Nevertheless, being in my third year of unemployment and the current Great Depression’s Kafka-esque nightmare, I may have to start one soon just to preserve my sanity.
I appreciate your willingness to share your geographic information. California’s unemployment and budget crisis is indeed severe. But then again, I find the situation to be quite ubiquitous throughout most of the nation. It is a shame since CA was, historically, one of those states that seem to fare recessions pretty well. I have applied to jobs out in CA and in WA in hopes of finding greener pastures but no luck. I will most likely have to move back to IL, where I’m from originally, to live with family if things don’t improve soon.
With regards to Ehrenreich’s work, she does put most journalists to shame. When you have more truth coming from comedians like Jon Stewart than news reporters, there’s something definitely wrong with the Fourth Estate. And as for American society’s addiction to specious optimism, as Ehrenreich meticulously documents in her book Bright-sided, enough with the wishful thinking already. I can only hope more people will become enlightened to how systemic America’s problems are and how much they are currently being manipulated by those in power regardless of political, economic and social ideology.
In any case, I have pontificated long enough. I hope we can continue this dialog as I find your writing and thoughts to be akin to mine (I did get a nice laugh from Mussolini’s insight).
James
Welcome back and thanks for the comments. Being back at work is an out of body experience at times but I’m determined to show the bosses that you can teach old dogs new tricks and maybe they’ll hire more older unemployed workers. Being back at the grind certainly takes the steam out of blogging so I’ll leave you with this George Carlin bit I came across recently:
“The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A Death! What’s that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you’re too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you’re young enough to enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating …and you finish off as an orgasm.”
Your experiences at IndyMac sound much like my experiences at my former employer. Hopefully the office culture at your new position will be less toxic. Throughout my life I have always made a conscious effort to avoid jobs where I feel like the life is being sucked out of me or being sucked out of customers/clients. Part of the reason I think I find myself unemployed is because I refused to be a mindless drone and unfortunately managers like mindless drones. It is a shame the bulk of American jobs have to compromise one’s essence to avoid ending up on the streets.
Congratulations on your new job. I enjoy your writing and hope you will continue to post as time permits. As a 99er myself, I could relate to much of what you’ve written thus far. It has and continues to be a devastating experience for me as well as for many of my fellow Americans who are unemployed or underemployed. And the situation only seems to get worse, exacerbated by the continued greed, hubris and incompetence of corporations, politicians and mainstream media.
I have read many of Barbara Ehrenreich’s books and find her to be one of the few sane voices left in a nation gone mad. After I read her op-ed piece in the LA Times back in January (2011) it reminded me of something and at first I couldn’t put my finger on why it troubled me so much. Then I realize it reminded me of Nazi brownshirts. When I consider the economic, political and social landscape of our country, I can’t help but wonder whether America is on the path towards socialist fascism.
In any case, I digress. I would ask if you wouldn’t mind disclosing the approximate geographic location of where you found your new job. I’m from Boston, MA area and there’s nothing for me here and it sounds like at least people are hiring in your neck of the woods. Thanks in advance for the consideration.
Thank you. As I wrote, I got very lucky – I had the right skills at the right time in the right place. But 4 years of unemployment has been a searing, life-changing and radicalizing experience. I don’t think the powers-that-be in Washington realize what an angry, slumbering giant they have created that is slowly awakening. Sometimes I think it’s not only truth that is dead but actum est de republica. (I had two years of Latin in high school, not that I remember much of it. Do they even offer Latin anymore?). At 57 I should be looking forward to retirement but I’m essentially starting my life over. I’m starting to dig out of a very deep hole. But at least I now have a shovel.
And yes, I have every intention to continue blogging, I’m just starting to get the hang of it. I’d recommend it for any 99er with an internet connection. It’s therapeutic, gave me a reason to get out of bed in the morning and it beats yelling at the elected hollow clowns on CSPAN. It’s also weirdly addicting.
I know it’s a trite cliché but all I can tell you is to hang in there. If I can find something after almost 4 years so can you. Only those of us who have gone through this experience can truly appreciate what it does to one’s psyche. Like I wrote in one of my posts, it’s like going through the stages of grief.
I wouldn’t consider moving to California though. I live in Riverside County, about an hour outside of Palm Springs in a small community with very few jobs. As you may know, CA has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, I think it’s still over 12% and Riverside county has one of the highest rates in the state, something like 17% and this particular area where I’m at has the highest rate in the county, some accounts put it at 24%. I would have moved but couldn’t afford to. I believe the area around Detroit is the only place in the country with a higher rate. I just kept checking my email job alerts every morning for anything within 30 miles and only applied for the jobs matching my skills, anything else was a waste of time I found. I’ve only applied for 4 in the past year, after applying for hundreds while I was still living in the L.A. area. I think my saving grace was that my new employer was as desperate to find someone with my computer skills as I was for a job. That and my new supervisor is in his 60s – I think if I had been interviewed by someone younger the outcome would have been different.
I’m also a big fan of Barbara Ehrenreich’s work. I quote her a lot on my blog. I was watching Lewis Lapham’s “documentary,” The American Ruling Class streaming on Netflix a few days ago and was surprised to see her doing research/waitressing at IHOP. For my money, I think she may be America’s finest journalist. Her heart’s certainly in the right place. How many journalists would do what she did to write Nickel and Dimed?
And you know what Mussolini said about fascism being misnamed, he said it should properly be called corporatism. And that’s what we’ve got now. “When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag carrying a cross” Sinclair Lewis warned. Hello!
I wish you well, my Latin-loving friend from Boston. John Adams was my favorite founder, btw. I love the John-Abigail and Adams-Jefferson letters. If Abigail was around today she’d be our first female president.
Sine Metu.