Tag Archives: unemployed

Our Perception of the Economy

We’re told that the economy is doing better and that people are spending more money but it’s a matter of perception. When I walk into a large store, it looks empty. When I walk into a small store, it looks busy. In some of the stores, the lines are very long but that’s because they don’t have enough cashiers, while in other stores, they have a lot of cashiers so it doesn’t look like they are doing a lot of …

Two Sides to the Story

A woman who left her young children in a sweltering car while she went on a job interview attracted sympathy from around the country with a tear-stained mug shot after being arrested on felony child-abuse charges. People responded to her plight to the tune of $114,000 in donations based on the fact that she was trying to get a job and was heartbroken when she realized she had endangered her children. Prosecutors gave her a second chance by allowing her …

Marrying for Money

We’ve all heard stories about mothers telling their daughters that it’s just as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor man and that money lasts longer than love. And then came the Feminist Movement and, for the last sixty years, women have been learning to support themselves and not depend on men to take care of their financial needs. But, now things are changing again. Whereas over the last half a century, women had been …

Fired? Laid Off? Get a Virtual Résumé

It must be a sign of the times because I’ve never seen so many scam artists as I’ve seen recently. There is now a company that provides phony job references to go with a phony career history. For a fee, they will create a phony website for a phony company, along with a phone number where a company representative is waiting to serve as your phony reference. It’s always been standard operating procedure that if you can do some of …

No More Embarrassing Moments

Two thoughts came into my mind simultaneously; 1) No one can go through life without having experienced some embarrassing moments and 2) If I were looking to start a new business, I’d be looking for a way to combine those two ideas. Hence, my new business would be named No More Embarrassing Moments. The concept is quite simple, especially since it just rolled off the top of my head and I haven’t had time to think through most of the …

A Woman Worth Knowing

Michelle Puckett is in the business of giving help to people who are the victims of circumstance. She has a unique consignment store that sells designer clothes and accessory items from quality designers, like Chanel, Gucci and Ferragamo, for 80 percent below cost but she also has a nonprofit for people who have been out of work and are struggling to get their lives back on track. In addition to her consignment shop, she started a nonprofit to help victims …

Looking Long Enough and Hard Enough

There’s an old saying that if you look long enough and hard enough you can always find someone who agrees with you. You can also always find whatever information you need. Statistics are a very useful tool. They can be twisted in so many different ways that you can make a case for anything and get the numbers to support your position. Government does it all the time. When the unemployment rate drops, government is quick to take the credit. …

Portable Showers for the Homeless

For years, I’ve heard about homeless people going into the rest rooms of gas stations, colleges, libraries, and restaurants to wash up and take a bird bath. I’ve always wondered how they can go on job interviews with dirty clothes and, possibly, smelly bodies, or if they just give up and don’t try to get a job. There is such a bias against homeless people, as if their homelessness is contagious. Society even veers away from those who used to …

Is Quitting Your Job Your Best Option?

I have been hearing a lot about people who are quitting their jobs before finding other employment and I think that’s just plain crazy. Everyone knows that it’s much more difficult to find a job when you are unemployed, yet that’s what people are doing despite knowing the odds. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “People are voluntarily quitting their jobs at the highest rate since the pre-recession era. . . ” and “2.16 million people quit their jobs …

Who’s Minding the Children?

In years gone by, most women took on the role of raising the children and running the home. Those who worked, were often expected to juggle household chores, children, and work, with very little support from their husbands. As the years progressed and women started to dominate the workforce, the traditional roles of men and women started to change. More and more we would hear about women abandoning their husbands and children. We would hear about wives who became the …

Connie H. Deutsch