Monday, October 20, 2014
Just Getting Started
The sound of the bus stopping right outside the window to pick up the Monday morning commuters woke her. It was comforting to know that if the hand-me-down old Subaru broke down, there is still a way to get to work. Annie jumped up, measured one scoop of the cheap Dollar Store coffee into the coffee maker, and sat down at her computer to begin the daily ritual once again. She would eagerly search through to internet job postings to apply to at least three each day before starting her shift at the store.
At 58 years old, Annie still had good health on her side, unlike many of her friends and colleagues. Each week brought new and jarring stories of accidents or illnesses sidelining one or the other to fates unknown. In her prime, she had been living the American dream, college degree, working professional, busy mother of four, secure retirement ahead. But now she was starting over.
The symptoms of Great Recession began showing up in the area with friends getting laid off, pushed out, companies "restructuring" or bankrupt, money troubles, marriage troubles, suicides, house foreclosures, unemployment creeping higher, and a dark cloud of despair settling in. At first it could have appeared to be random bad luck or poor decisions, but the tide of hard times kept rolling and pulling more and more people down.
After the tide of destruction rolled over her, there wasn't much left to pick up. The good job was no more, the house was foreclosed, the husband took off, the retirement find was hollowed out to practically nothing. The first job she landed after all this was part time, minimum wage at the grocery store. The box store across the parking lot offered full time for a dollar more per hour, plus benefits after six months. Despite months of trying, no calls or offers from all of the applications for better paying work. The realization began creeping in that her age worked against her.
The coffee is ready. The LinkedIn and Monster and Indeed and NabAJob are waiting. Sitting at the second-hand table in her cheap rental apartment, before she reports for her low wage shift at the box store, Annie is just getting started.
At 58 years old, Annie still had good health on her side, unlike many of her friends and colleagues. Each week brought new and jarring stories of accidents or illnesses sidelining one or the other to fates unknown. In her prime, she had been living the American dream, college degree, working professional, busy mother of four, secure retirement ahead. But now she was starting over.
The symptoms of Great Recession began showing up in the area with friends getting laid off, pushed out, companies "restructuring" or bankrupt, money troubles, marriage troubles, suicides, house foreclosures, unemployment creeping higher, and a dark cloud of despair settling in. At first it could have appeared to be random bad luck or poor decisions, but the tide of hard times kept rolling and pulling more and more people down.
After the tide of destruction rolled over her, there wasn't much left to pick up. The good job was no more, the house was foreclosed, the husband took off, the retirement find was hollowed out to practically nothing. The first job she landed after all this was part time, minimum wage at the grocery store. The box store across the parking lot offered full time for a dollar more per hour, plus benefits after six months. Despite months of trying, no calls or offers from all of the applications for better paying work. The realization began creeping in that her age worked against her.
The coffee is ready. The LinkedIn and Monster and Indeed and NabAJob are waiting. Sitting at the second-hand table in her cheap rental apartment, before she reports for her low wage shift at the box store, Annie is just getting started.
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