On Employment

Check out this article in today's Times.

I keep reading about people with master's degrees and former six-figure salaries considering $12-an-hour work and just can't fathom it. These are people much closer than I am to retirement, and with children, and mortgages.

At times the Republican remnant in me wants to blame the people in foreclosure that never should have bought property they couldn't afford, who should have known investments by definition can very well lose value, or who think themselves above blue collar work; but I know my current situation of good health and employment and very little debt is largely due to luck. In fact, a good number of those who would have formerly had the luxury of gazing down from ivory towers have had those towers repossessed, courtesy Mr. Madoff. All our houses are made of glass these days.

When my friends and I talk about our jobs and their relative (in)security, I say I feel pretty good about mine for the time being... meanwhile I spent much of yesterday with Suze Orman, so clearly I don't feel 100% secure. After all, it was only just over a year ago that I finally was able to quit my second job as a bartender, vowing all my income would henceforth come from one source, my primary career. Now I'm thinking of pulling out the cocktail flashcards.

I really don't know what I would do if I were laid off (proverbial wood knock). As a single, young person pretty early in her career, I feel a certain excitement at the idea of being given a fresh start - finally! An excuse to travel the world, to live abroad for a year, to find an opportunity that feels like a lifelong calling!

But reality -- I don't have the Orman-ordered eight-month emergency fund at the ready, and the idea of cashing out investments literally makes me nauseous after opening last month's statement.

A friend of mine was laid off over a year ago and he's since travelled the world and is somehow living on a combination of savings and day trading, seemingly unworried about getting work anytime soon. I don't envision myself comfortably living that way for much more than a month.

Unrelated: If anyone's looking for a marketing/promotions/events professional with arts/entertainment background, cheeky writing skills, grammatical obsessiveness, basic Spanish, passport, and enviable style, I'd be happy to help you find her.