Waiting for Change?

The following is a guest blog from Dr. Christina McCale, an author, a doctor and perhaps most of all... a person.

   -- Sir Bacon

There are many moments that are etched in the memories of most adults.

Graduation.

Birth of a child.

Your wedding day.

Buying your first house.

But unfortunately for more than 12 million Americans, some of whom read this blog and share their stories here, another day that remains etched in our minds is the day our professional lives were upended. The day that part of our very identities were taken from us.

It was the day that our jobs were taken from us.

And unfortunately, for some 5.4 million  of those, one of the largest “segments” of the unemployed population are those who have been living the nightmare of unemployment for more than 6 months.

My own personal descent into the living hell called unemployment started in the Spring of 2009 when I was passed over for not one but three different professorial jobs; jobs that I had spent nearly a decade networking to get, preparing for, and culminating volumes of good teaching evaluations, article publications, text book involvement, and conference presentations. I was recognized as one of the most published researchers in my field. I was recruited to launch a national journal.

But in the end, none of that mattered.

The “why” I didn’t get any of the positions I had so long networked for, and ended up unemployment is less important than the actual fact of the matter: I was now unemployed. And despite any number of attempts to “pull myself up by my bootstraps” I failed.

I wouldn’t fit the model any news organization would report as a “typical” unemployed American. For good and bad, I have an above average education: I have a bachelors and masters from a well-known, private Pacific Northwest university; I had done graduate studies at a top tier state school; and I held a doctorate in a highly desirable profession that I had specifically gone back to school to get a doctorate at the urging of several department chairs. These hiring managers had indicated that my talent for teaching, and my lengthy corporate marketing experience would make me a shoe-in to teach almost anywhere I chose.

All those facts added up to not an inordinate amount of student loan debt, but in return, seemingly having the credentials to join one of our most revered professions: that of professor, academic, teacher.

But then the economy cratered.

Then the housing crisis exploded.

And then the financial markets dissolved into chaos.

State and local governments’ budgets came under fire, laying off previously unimaginable positions that had always been considered sacrosanct: police officers, firemen, and teachers. Professorial openings went unfilled; retirement eligible employees hung on by their fingernails, delaying retirement in order to allow the markets, and ultimately their retirement funds, time to bounce back. When professors did retire, they were not replaced.

And then things got really bad.

In the Fall of 2011, l put my decade’s worth of training to work, and began documenting the plight of the unemployed, pulling together the data, media observations, and interviews to profile the one in two Americans who were now “the new poor:” those who had fallen quickly and harshly into the state of poverty despite previous training, education or work history.

But as I wrote, I found my own story creeping into the narrative because too many people I tried to interview could not bring themselves to bare their souls, their hurts or their “failings” for the book.

This approach isn’t new: Authors like Barbara Ehrenreich (Nickel and Dimed, Bait and Switch),  Jonathan Kozol, author of Shame of the Nation, Eric Schlosser of Fast Food Nation, and even documentarian Morgan Spurlock of Supersize Me. have long documented situations, to include their own role and impressions of the situation, which indicate a larger, potentially systemic issue at hand.

I was reminded of the stories from our grandparents and the Great Recession that we all probably grew up on. As so in light of these memories, I put myself to work, writing the book “Waiting for Change:  Impacts on life, family, work and the new 99% reality.”  This book, then, centers on five key areas of the human experience – housing, sustenance, employment, children, and our social support systems -- exploring how these areas of one’s life can be so drastically impacted – irrevocably altered – by job loss and the continuing drag of the Great Recession we’ve all experienced in a myriad of different ways.

I’d love to hear how closely these stories ring true for all of you.

Over the course of a decade, Dr. Christina McCale has been a marketing professor at a variety of public and private universities, the author of research studies, proceedings, conference presentations and books, including Waiting For Change, which discusses the economic realities the 99% experience during the Great Recession also found at her blog  http://www.waitingforchange.us/.  Dr. McCale continues to write research and write while actively looking to return to her love of teaching the classroom or virtual environment with college students.

Swift And Decisive

The following is a guest blog from Lillian Swift, a writer from Northern Arizona University.

    -- Sir Bacon

Unemployment Benefits continue to be major issue in 2012

So many different families and individuals across the United States have been stricken with the perils of unemployment over the past few years. Aside from just the bottom line of losing money that provides, families have also been stricken with the perils of losing their benefits. This is when many turn to unemployment benefits to help get them through the tough times. With people facing long stretches of unemployment, many individuals have been forced to take a fight to the courts to battle for their unemployment benefits. 

Capitol Hill will soon be facing a decision regarding a proposed extension of unemployment benefits. An alteration would certainly be welcome to the many who struggle looking for a new position during these tough economic times. However, until the people in Washington can make moves on the item, there will continue to be more battles over unemployment benefits leaking into the court room. 

Just recently, an Illinois woman who was once fired for working through her lunch break was forced to go into a court battle with her former company over unemployment benefits. Sharon Smiley had worked for a realty company and they had decided to challenge her benefits after letting her go from her position. She was awarded the win in a court battle over her former company who challenged those benefits. Although she won the battle and is now employed full time elsewhere, there are many others out there who haven’t experienced the same fortunes. 

In Florida, this has become a major topic of conversation while politicians out of Tallahassee continue to propose cuts and more requirements to unemployment benefits, as well as the state’s Medicaid program. Recent rallies in Central Florida brought together citizens to help build awareness of the potential pitfalls that many unemployed Floridians could face. Their efforts were backed by representatives from Orlando Abogado practices, local fireman chairs and others from local employment agencies. 

As a recent college graduate, the job market has been tough on me as well as my peers. Many have been forced to settle for part time positions in the meantime and some haven’t even been lucky enough find any work. For myself, I am currently taking on the unknown waters of looking for full-time employment. Although daunting, I try and keep a positive mood going into every application and search. Even with a positive mindset for many recent graduates, it can be hard to maintain when things don’t go your way. Unemployment benefits to me are often a necessity. I’ve seen family members who’ve worked their entire life get them out of necessity and not out of a lack of hard work at all. 

Young adults who’ve lost their positions have also faced the tough decision of whether to apply for employment benefits. Of course, this is a tough choice for many of those who have been laid off or let go from their jobs. For people who’ve been working for years, this decision can be highly unwelcomed. 

On one hand, many longtime workers need to provide, possibly not only for themselves, but for a family or others. This certainly can seem like an easy decision, but some just don’t have the mindset to use these benefits, as they’ve been raised to believe that every dollar must be earned. This decision is different for the younger adults who may have been let go, as some of their choices may be based on perception and reputation. 

My father was faced with an interesting quandary in the past few years when let go for the second time within three years. On one hand, he had been in the military for 20 years, retired and worked for over 15 years following that, so he knew nothing different. He took the unemployment benefits, which helped him out for a few months in between jobs, something he is thankful for as he gets settled into a new sales job right now. The point is that, although taking on unemployment benefits remains a tough choice for some, for most it might be a necessity. 

The win for the Chicago woman who was fired for working through her lunch is a major stepping stone for those involved with the importance of unemployment benefits. There have been few times in history when unemployment has been affected as it has in the past few years here in the United States. Unemployment benefits have been and will continue to be an important factor in helping to support the citizens of the country as they look to get back on their feet during tough times. 

Impending action from Washington to extend unemployment benefits nationally could be viewed as both a gift and a curse, but it’s important to remember that help like that cannot be replicated elsewhere. In most cases, extending unemployment benefits would certainly do much more good than harm for the people of the United States. 

Lillian Swift is an aspiring writer who specializes in writing about community issues.

If you would like to write a guest blog, please contact me at sirbacon123@yahoo.com.

For My Journey Through Unemployment:

CLICK HERE

Psyched Up

I have never seen the show “In Treatment” on HBO, but I bet I would love it.

HBO does an amazing job with everything they touch.

Except for the show Hung.

Dud.

But from what I know about In Treatment, it sounds like a very cool concept.

Basically you are a fly on the wall during a series of intense therapy sessions.

When my parents were growing up, the only people who went to therapy were the weirdos.

At least that’s what most people thought.

When I was growing up, the only people who went to therapy were the weirdos and the hyperactive kids.

The only thing I knew about that biz was what Dr. Sidney Freedman from M*A*S*H had taught me.

(I wonder if the writers knew that he has the same initials as Sigmund Freud.  Wow, what a coincidence.)

These days if you want to be part of the in-crowd, you’d better make an appointment with a therapist.

But you better make sure you know what the doctor is ordering.

Do a quick search and you'll see about a million options -- Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Social Workers, Counselors, Group Therapy, Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Psychoanalytic Therapy.

It’s like going to one of those all you can eat salad bars.

Wow those places stress me out.  Too many decisions.

I started going to therapy in the fall of 2008 after 30+ of my colleagues were told thanks for all of your hard work.

GET OUT!

I had been before, but never under such circumstances.

Life was quite overwhelming at that moment, but I was fortunate to find a fantastic person who helped guide me through that terrible time.

20 months later, I’m as grounded as I will ever be.

Unemployed, but grounded.

Yesterday I returned to see my therapist after taking two months off.  That damn freelance job got in the way of all of my fun. 

Despite the time away, I jumped right back onto the cozy couch, kicked off my shoes and started up a conversation.

60 minutes later we were done.

I have learned quite a bit by talking to the experts, but perhaps the number one thing I’ve learned is that the experts don’t like to give you the answers.

They prefer to sit there, do a whole lot of listening, sometimes write things down, ask you some questions and then lead you to the water.

Its up to you to do the drinking.

Fortunately for me, I’m always thirsty and I caught on quickly, taking a whole lot away with me.

When I started two years ago, the first goal that I.. we.. me.. we.. (I don’t know) set was for me to try being more present at home.

Working 60+ hours a week can make for a tired human, but deep down, the wife and kids really don’t care how tired I am.

They just want me to be there when I am there, since I really wasn’t there most of the time.

Once I became a stay-at-home dad, that being present thing became a lot easier.

I actually started listening to conversations and if I was feeling really crazy, I might even say something.

Now that’s progress.

Through therapy I have now obtained all the tools to be present when/if I start working full-time again.

I usually walk away from a session with a handful of homework and a bag full of goals.

The reality is that in life, you are not going to succeed most of the time, but if you can keep trying, that’s the victory.

Today we talked about the great unknown or as Billy Joel liked to refer to it -- My Life.

More specifically dealing with what you know instead of what you don’t.

If you try guessing about the future, you might as well start guessing about lottery numbers too.

And we know how that will turn out.

Deal in reality.  Live in the now and take it from there.

When this phase of life is over, then and ONLY THEN, can you go to the next phase.   

Don’t pass go until it is time.  There is no $200.

Even though she won’t take any of the credit, I owe SO much to my therapist.

We watched my career crumble in front of my eyes (and hers) and somehow I’m still standing.  

(And you thought I was going to make a corny Elton John reference, didn't you?)

I would imagine that therapy is not for everyone, but for me, it has made life more clear than a pair of bifocals.

I have no doubt that it would not have happened without some Cognit-Psychiolog-Social-Counselor person.

I’m just glad I found a friend.

Take A Chance On Me

It’s not everyday that you can see a musical legend in concert.

In fact it’s not ANY day that you can see the Swedish hit machine ABBA perform live.

They haven’t played together in nearly 25 years.

But don’t tell that to the advertisement in my local newspaper.

The other day I saw an ad that said in big bold letters:

ABBA, The Concert

Followed by the words, “Arrival from Sweden, Live in Concert.”

Tickets are $27 (plus service charges).

At NO place on the ad does it mention that it’s not ABBA you would be spending $27 (plus service charges) on, it would be Arrival, the ABBA tribute band.

That’s where my journalistic blood-sniffing technique kicked in.

I hunted down the official website for Arrival, where it said, “this is the closest to ABBA you’ll ever get”

AND

it’s a “stunning look-alike show they put on.”

Put on is right.

The tribute band, formed in 1996, has done close to 1000 shows in more than 25 countries.

And I thought those little zhu-zhu pets were stealing money.

False advertisement is a fantastic thing, especially if you can get away with it.

Like the hundreds of times I have won the Irish Lottery.

Or the FREE CRUISE, if I call that number.

Or the car dealers with the once-in-a-lifetime deal.  

Make sure you look really close at the small print. The truth is, they only have one car at that “special” price and amazingly, it’s been sold by the time you get there.

And then there’s the big fat liar who said that finding a penny and picking it up would give you luck all day long.

Let me tell you, that’s a bunch of bovine stool.

On my way into Starbucks this morning for by my overpriced venti sugar free vanilla half-caff Americano with half water and half steamed soy, I noticed Abraham Lincoln staring at me.

So I picked up my little copper friend, instantly believing that today would be the day.

Call off the military Millie, good luck is on the way.

And not a minute too soon.

Guess again.

Unless you call NOT spilling my Americano on my shirt good luck, nuthin out of the ordinary happened today.

Nuthin.

And let me tell you, I’m getting really tired of nuthin happening.

Nuthin has been the daily special on my menu for the last 20 months.

Sure, some good things have happened.

Like getting to know my wife and kids again.

And a couple of freelance jobs to help pay for getting to know my wife and kids again.

But as for something good happening in my career, that’s just not happening.

And picking up a penny is not going to change that.

For the most part, I’ve been able to deal the heartbreak of a broken career as well as possible, but I’m running out of optimism.

And so are the people around me.

My mom came over for dinner last night and even she was low on positive reinforcement.

And when your mom is running out of nice things to say, it’s time to call in the National Guard.

My mother’s faith in my career is so beaten up that when I dropped her off at her assisted living facility last night, she said, “I’ll be praying for you.”

Then she crossed her fingers.

Wow.  This is getting serious.

But wait there’s more.

This morning I had my daily call from one of my closest friends.  He’s become a loyal reader of the blog and I thank him for that.

I think he calls to make sure I’m still standing every morning, but he hides it by talking about sports and the blog.

He could tell pretty quickly today that my gas tank of spirit was running on empty.

So, like any good friend, he made the quick transition into a pep talk.

He offered his usual sincere support, but today at 9:42am, he threw in a “everything happens for a reason”, free of charge.

Twenty months ago, the “everything happens for a reason” was a beautiful place for me to rest my hope and my shoes.

Twenty months later, it makes me want to throw up.

What are these “things” that are supposed to be happening?

And for what reason?

But wait there’s more.

This afternoon I was cruising through Sir Bacon’s Facebook page, searching for something good to happen, when a new reader of the blog, someone I have never met, opened up a chat line.

We exchanged nice words for a few lines, then as we were bidding adieu, at 4:04pm, he said, “it’s happening for a reason.”

Are you kidding me?

Two different people, worlds apart and separated by six hours and 22 minutes, both dropped the “happening for a reason” on me.

Ok.

What is the reason that people don’t return my emails?

What is the reason I have applied for dozens of jobs with no response?

What is the reason I worked my rear-end off for 25 years so that a business transaction could make my services no longer needed?

I’m waiting.

This all makes about as much sense to me as spending $27 (plus service charges) on a karaoke band.

One Bad Apple

I'm really not sure what caused Mick Jagger's 19th Nervous Breakdown, but I have a candidate for his 20th.

Take away his personal computer.

That little event has definitely done it to me.

Around this time last week, my incredibly awesome amazing fantastically wonderful less than one-year old iMac home computer took a major turn for the worse.

The biggest issue was it taking nearly ten minutes to turn on.

Clearly it's not a male computer.

In addition to their products, one of the great things about the Apple company is their customer service.

Those people truly love life and LOVE their job.  At least when they are on the clock.

If you ever feel like doing bodily harm to yourself, stop by the Apple store.

One of my goals and greatest accomplishments during my 18 months of unemployment was to learn how to edit home videos.

After taking several classes at the Apple store, that mission was accomplished.

In the last year I have successfully edited a photo montage set to commercial music for each of my three children on their birthday.

Hopefully I will be able to do a new one every year, but if not, the kids will always be able to look back at their special birthday video and remember:

• "ah, that was the year that my dad had way too much time on his hands as a stay-at-home unemployed father.   I miss those days."

During my time in TV, I spent A LOT of hours in the edit room, but thankfully there were always professionals pushing the right buttons so that I didn't have to.

But I must say, I have truly enjoyed learning the other side of the edit process.

And it has really paid off.

One of my new jobs is editing videos for a company's website.   I download the video at home, edit it at home and upload it back to them.

From home.

I think I'm starting to figure out why so many staff jobs have been eliminated.

Well, all was very well with me and my Apple until last week, when my computer started crashing.

The good news is that I was able to take it into the Apple store, still under warranty, and all the work would be done for free.

After three days in the shop, we had a new hard drive.

I brought the computer home, turned it on and ...

and...

and...

ten minutes later, it worked.   Sorta.

So with my wife, the school teacher, out of school for the summer, she was able to take it back to the Apple store right away to clear up the problem.

I told her to see one of the geniuses.   That's what they call themselves.

So, she took the computer back, they checked it out, gave her some instructions and she brought it home.

When I got home from my day at the office -- I love saying that -- I hooked up my four gigabyte baby, ready for a big night in the homemade edit suite.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Boom.

(At least) ten minutes later, the computer came on.

Are you kidding me?   Smile, you must be on Candid Camera.

So enough of the Apple store, this morning, I went straight to the 24-hour Apple Care Hot Line.   

Them is the real geniuses.

At 7:00am, I made the first call.

45 minutes later we were on our way.

90 minutes later, it was still taking ten minutes to log on.

Call #2.

I spoke with the Senior Advisor, who is located one cubicle above the Advisor.

At least 45 more minutes later -- do this, do that, MAC OS this and System Preferences that... Yada, yada, yada...

Nothin.

He gave me some download link that was going to clean up something or other and this and that.

Bottom line, it was four hours after 7:00am and I was freaking out.

Remember now, this was like day six or seven without a home computer.

I literally had to walk away for a couple of hours to give some new software time to download and to give my own personal hard drive time to cool down.

By the time I got back, the download was done, my pulse had slowed down and I was ready for business.

Only problem was my computer was not.

Back to the Senior Advisor.  

Of course, the guy who helped me earlier was gone for the day -- and today was his Friday, so he was gone for two more -- so I got a new guy.

He told me to do this and that.

After some new 45 minute download, the error sign came up.

The last time an error hurt me this much, I was playing third base on my high school baseball team.

Time for Senior Advisor #3.

I made the mistake of beginning our relationship with an F-bomb.

He wasn't the target, but the shrapnel must've struck him.

Note to kids:  don't ever drop an F-bomb when somebody is trying to help you.

Fortunately he had my file right in front of him, with all of the gory details, and I think he genuinely felt bad for me.   

After a couple of apologies, we were able to move past my vocabulary faux pas and get down to business.

Unfortunately by this time, I was out of time.   We actually had places to go and people to see and there was no time left to deal with this problem today.

It was 5:30pm, ten-and-a-half hours after my first call.   Six or seven days PLUS ten-and-a-half hours after the problem first came up and Cupertino, we still have a problem.

I requested that the first Senior Advisor who reports to work tomorrow morning calls me at home to take another shot at this.

An Apple a day?

Not what this doctor ordered.

My Journey Through Employment

To paraphrase former U.S. President Leslie Lynch King Jr., my long national nightmare is now over.

At least for now.

After more than 18 months since I was told my services were no longer needed, I have finally found someone who needs me.

Actually, I have found three people -- or six if you count my kids.

It was just a few weeks ago that my stepmother told me to forget what I had accomplished in the past, figure out what I do well and find a job that uses those skills.

I’m very excited to announce that I will be displaying my skills in the areas of storytelling, producing and editing on three completely different jobs.

That’s the great news.

The less great news is that all three of these jobs are part-time gigs.

But you won’t hear me complaining.

Two of the three will disappear by the end of the summer, while the third will hopefully have a longer life span.

Keeping with the spirit of this formerly anonymous blog, I’m gonna keep the specifics to a minimum, but I will say that only one of the projects speaks directly to my previous professional experience.

The other two are working in areas that I have never fiddled with before.

And I take that as a compliment.

To be perfectly honest, after 18 months off, I was really starting to believe like I would never get a job again.

And let’s be straight up here, we know which way my stock was going with each day I was out of work.

I’m beyond excited to be taking on these jobs and in the same breath, I can’t wait to find out what's next.

After 25 years as a staff employee, this part-time freelance world is pretty interesting.

Well, pretty interesting if you get the work.

Pretty depressing if you don’t.

I have no doubt I will succeed in this new world or at least I will die trying.

And hopefully these new assignments are a sign of things to come.

So where does this big piece of happy pie leave this blog on my journey through unemployment?

Well the way I see it, the blog is as much a part of me now as anything I have ever done.

The support I have received from so many old friends and so many new ones has made this the greatest experience of my life.

And I’m not about to stop now.

Sure my blog started as a journey through unemployment, but it has evolved into a story of real life.

My life.

And that’s where it’s going to stay -- stories about the real world.

I hope you continue to follow my journey, because I’m going to keep writing about it.

Thanks for everything.

See you tomorrow.

NOT THAT QUESTION!

I have always enjoyed a party.

Except for my first party of course, which came eight days into life.

(If you don’t know what I am referring to, check Seinfeld’s episode five, season five.  Ouch.)

Back to the party.

I like birthday parties, engagement parties, fraternity parties.

I even like the resolve of the Libertarian Party.

Today I was invited to a high school graduation party.

Well, actually I was not invited to the party, but our band was.

In case you are new to my world, as a 43-year old unemployed guy, I was asked to sing in a band with three 40+ year old employed guys.

After my very successful singing career in college, I had no choice but to accept.  

Two weeks ago, we launched this new career at a block party.

Fortunately at our golden age, we were able to remember most of the five songs we played two weeks ago, so today we played the same five songs.

When the 20+ minute show was over, it was time to mingle backstage with the groupies.

Well actually, there was no backstage.

And there were no groupies.

But we had plenty of time to talk to the people who I recognized the face, but didn’t know the person.

I didn’t notice a teleprompter behind me, but you would’ve thought that every person was reading off a script.

Line 1 -- you guys sounded great.

Line 2 -- I love that song by The Clash/Ramones/Weezer...

Line 3 -- so, what do you do for a living?

I guess my singing didn’t convince anyone that rock star is my full-time job, but even worse than that, Line #3 kept reopening that nasty wound.

I thought this was a party.

One thing I have never been good at is lying and at this point in my life, I’m not about to start now.

I think I can hold a poker face that Lady Gaga would be proud of, but even in a little chit-chat, if you ask me a question, you’re gonna get an answer.

Within seconds, maybe milli-seconds, I was telling a stranger about the last 18 months of my life.

TMI.

I had a fantastic fake smile on my face saying that being a stay-at-home dad is the best job in the world.

Which it is, but...

And I would say that every, make that EVERY time I say that I am unemployed, I get a response that my _____ just lost their job too.

Honestly, I don’t really give a damn about your _____ and the last thing I want to do is to be talking about this.

Can’t we talk about how I sounded exactly like Brian Setzer on the Stray Cat Strut.

Do I really need to re-live my demise?

Again!

There was a time, fortunately a short time, when my father was unemployed.

The year was 1979 and through no fault of his own -- dejavu -- he lost his job.

At the time I was 12 and I barely knew how to spell unemployed, no less what it really meant.

All I could tell is that my dad was embarrassed.

He was embarrassed to file for unemployment.  He was embarrassed to talk about it.   He was embarrassed.

The funny thing is that is exactly how I don’t feel.

I am not embarrassed to be unemployed.  Not proud of it, by any stretch, but not embarrassed.

Maybe it’s the world we are living in these days.

While working out last week, I saw that the optimistic Fox News Channel is predicting that we will have 20 million unemployed soon in this country.

Why would I be embarrassed, I am part of the in-crowd.

But even with plenty of company in my new demographic, it still doesn’t feel very good.

Especially when you get that miserable question -- so what do you do? -- over and over and over and over again.

Um, grocery shopping.

Exercise.

Little projects here and there.

All true, by the way.

I was at my son’s baseball game two nights ago, when one of the grandparents, who usually makes a couple of games a year, stopped by to say hello.

He introduced me to his new girlfriend and then asked me, “what is your title over there again?”

Really?

I did my best to summarize my life in three seconds, probably closer to thirty, and then threw in the, “it’s nice to see you again.”

I’m not sure he was buying it.

In fact, I think he probably wished he never would have said hello.

It really wasn’t that big deal and fortunately I was able to deliver the eulogy of my career with a couple of one-liners.

But I think we both wish he would’ve asked about the distance from first base to second base instead of “my title over there again.”

Maybe my bris wasn't so bad after all.