Hard times...

[Por_sha911]

If you 'd like to help the guy, you might want to check back in a week and casually ask him if he wants the unopened extra burger, piece of fresh fruit, can of cold soda, whatever... you (just happen to) have in the car. If he says "sure" then randomly drop the idea that you might be able to suggest some contacts who can help him with what ever he may be needing... Street smart people are usually quick to pick up on whether you are going to drop the dime on them or not.

[RWebb]

maybe he can get a job there as live in security?

also, maybe the security guys did see him on their cams and are letting him alone...

[911pcars]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

Nowadays it wouldn't be a problem cause I have savings, but there was a time in my youth I was faced with that kind of situation.
My daughter was very young and we had just spent almost every penny we had on our house when the company I worked for unexpectedly closed down and laid everyone off.

Within a week I took a job I hated because it was laborious, dirty work and I had to travel constantly. If I was lucky I could spend one day per weekend at home. But it paid around $20/hr plus overtime was available so I could pay my bills, it would just take longer days.

I did that for about 6 months and then opened my own small consulting business (just me and one other person), which I sold about a year later for around $60k net after all expenses when I found a good steady job where I wouldn't have to travel.
It was a tough period and I missed part of my daughter's first few years but I did what I had to and there were no excuses made.

Lots of folks out there think they're too good to take a crappy job, that it's beneath them. They'd rather sit on unemployment and make excuses as their situation worsens than do something about it. Thank God I wasn't one of those.

When faced with adversity you either man up or give up.

Different times now Sammy. You can't necessarily project your past experience to today's predicament and say, "Sorry, but I did it". There's not enough jobs, even menial ones, for the number of unemployed.

Sherwood

[notfarnow]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

My daughter was very young and we had just spent almost every penny we had on our house when the company I worked for unexpectedly closed down and laid everyone off.

Within a week I took a job I hated because it was laborious, dirty work and I had to travel constantly. If I was lucky I could spend one day per weekend at home. But it paid around $20/hr plus overtime was available so I could pay my bills, it would just take longer days.

I did that for about 6 months and then opened my own small consulting business (just me and one other person), which I sold about a year later for around $60k net after all expenses when I found a good steady job where I wouldn't have to travel.
It was a tough period and I missed part of my daughter's first few years but I did what I had to and there were no excuses made.

Lots of folks out there think they're too good to take a crappy job, that it's beneath them. They'd rather sit on unemployment and make excuses as their situation worsens than do something about it. Thank God I wasn't one of those.

When faced with adversity you either man up or give up.

yep. I got laid off when my wife was 7mths pregnant. No IT work around here so I went into real estate. Got licensed the day before my daughter was born. House, 2 cars, a brand new baby... that %$#% will light a fire under your a$$. Real estate market was not exactly booming, I worked 80+ hrs a week including knocking on doors for 4 hrs a day, 5 days a week for leads. Got a lot of doors slammed in my face, but I got some listings too. It was a little emabarrassing sometimes, seeing people I knew... I'd gone from a "professional" career to banging on doors half-desperate for a lead. It worked though, just b*a*r*e*l*y squeaked by my first year, any single deal could have broken me, but we made it. was up steady on my feat last year, and really cookin' this year.

When my wife went back to school a few years ago, she took a part-time job at the same deli she had woked at 10 years ago. $9/hr making sandwiches at lunch for the people she used to work with. A bit humiliating? Yes. But did we miss mortgage payments or fall behind on our bills? no.

I do sympathize with people getting hurt by this economy, but there is ALWAYS work. It just might not be the work we want.

[lendaddy]

Originally Posted by azasadny

You should see what's going on in Detroit, it's scary...

I drove through the other day and saw one of the tent villages under an overpass. hundreds of people.

[notfarnow]

Originally Posted by lendaddy

I drove through the other day and saw one of the tent villages under an overpass. hundreds of people.

wow. that's different than the stuff that I'm talking about. When a local economy is that decimated, there really is no work. It would be hard to watch thriving businesses and good jobs disapear

[varmint]

every private airport in l.a. county had at least one newly divorced guy sleeping in a hanger. been that way as long as i can remember.

[Crowbob]

There are several encampments on state land around here in the summer. I don't know where they all go when the snow flies. Tent cities out in the middle of nowhere. Usually friendly, peaceful self-policing little communities which is why we never hear about them. Normal families who have become nomadic.

There are quite a few people living in vacated warehouses, too. Hard times.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

It's also a very different situation for a guy in his 50s/60s than a guy in his 20s/30s.

Nobody is going to hire you when you're in your so-called "golden years". No way. Especially when there are 30 younger guys willing to work the same job.

One of the most criminal aspects of the recent spate of layoffs is how it has been disproportionately targeted at near-retired, highly-experienced individuals at the peak of their earning power, simply because it allows a company to get the maximum $ cut off their payroll while minimizing the headcount reduction they have to report. Utterly soulless. You KNOW those guys will never see the kinds of incomes they lost ever again and their entire end-of-life plans are likely in turmoil as a result - even if they did have investments, retirement accounts and all the rest.

[genrex]

P-O-P, that is a spot-on accurate analysis of the situation. We are seeing that all over the Seattle area, and it is getting worse every week.