Tag Archives: Unemployment

Suck Up To The Rich, But Kick The Poor When They’re Down

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Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother," a...

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It has been said: “Nothing succeeds like success.”

And:  “Nobody loves you when you’re down and out.”

That about sums up the unforgiving political climate in this raw election year.

One statehouse candidate in my corner of America says she wants to make our state “Millionaire-friendly.” Wait a minute. Today’s big news is the fast foreclosure scandal, and this candidate is worried that millionaires don’t have enough friends?

I don’t know whether to laugh . . . or cry.

Meanwhile, several candidates here are keen to make seasonal workers ineligible for unemployment compensation, in the midst of the worst depression since . . . The Depression.

Around here, we have plentiful work in summer, nothing in winter. Unemployment compensation for seasonal workers has been part of the business and economic equation — the social contract, if you will — for decades. Not anymore.

In this new, winner-take-all system, some local leaders ridicule the unemployed. The poor are “gaming the system,” they say.

Supermarket clerks laugh at folks who have to pay with food stamps. Folks lucky enough to be working scapegoat the unemployed. Don’t touch their food stamps; they might be contagious.

Cozy up to the rich.  Give the poor a kick in the teeth.

Politicians know how to choose their friends. But do voters know how to choose their politicians? Is this a great country, or what?

— John Hayden

Anne Tyler — ‘Noah’s Compass’ — Take 2

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I’ve read nearly 100 more pages of “Noah’s Compass.” When we left Liam Pennywell, he was alone and depressed, and, as he put it, “Almost waiting to die.” Naturally, Anne Tyler wasn’t going to let Liam’s story go in a straight line.

Liam soon becomes involved with a younger woman, a woman who says, “My parents think I’m a failure.” Next thing you know, Liam’s teen-age daughter, Kitty, has moved out of her mother’s house and settled in  Liam’s den, for the summer. Liam’s romantic interest, Eunice, is coming over every evening, under the pretense of helping him with his resumé, Kitty’s teen-age boyfriend visits all the time, and Liam is providing taxi service for the two teens. ‘Nother words, Liam’s life is getting complicated.

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Anne Tyler — ‘Noah’s Compass’ — Take 1

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It doesn’t take long for Anne Tyler to establish our hero, Liam Pennywell, as a  pathetic character. He has been recently “fired,” or “downsized,” depending on your viewpoint, from his teaching job.

In the first few pages of “Noah’s Compass,”  Liam bravely assesses the situation and recognizes that he ought to live more simply and frugally. He gives up his comfortable apartment and moves to a small, nondescript one-bedroom place.

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Anne Tyler — ‘Noah’s Compass’

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I’ve got it. Noah’s Compass, the 18th novel by Anne Tyler, one of the great authors of my lifetime. It’s just out in hardback. I don’t buy many books anymore, but I need this one. I think it might be about me.

The dust jacket says Noah’s Compass is the story of Liam Pennywell, “A schoolteacher, who has been forced to retire at sixty-one, coming to terms with the final phase of his life.”  With a name like Liam Pennywell, you know right away he’s not an Alpha Male.

I don’t know which is worse, the lost job or the “final phase.” It sounds so . . .  so Final.

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Life And Blogging: So Much To Do

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Let me humbly acknowledge: I have been shamefully neglecting “Life After 60,” the blog. This is because I’m too busy LIVING life after 60, the life.

Here are a few of the things I’ve been busy with:

  • Covering a three-day Nor’easter, worst storm in my neighborhood since 1998, for my other blog.
  • Applying for Unemployment Compensation. (Application accepted)
  • Applying for at least two jobs per week, as required by Unemployment Comp.
  • Attending classes to learn how to be a volunteer adult literacy tutor.
  • Doing homework for above classes. (Found out I’ve forgotten how to study with any discipline.)
  • Rearranging furniture in my efficiency apartment to make better use of the small space. (I’m not finished.)
  • Laundry, at least once every two weeks. Cleaning the bathroom, once every two weeks, whether it needs it or not. Running the dishwasher once every two days.
  • Getting a colonoscopy once every decade, whether I need it or not. (My decade ran out last year. I’m thinking about making an appointment, which is the crucial first step.)
  • I have not yet motivated myself to make the Recession Vegetable Soup, but I have assembled the ingredients and the necessary cookware.
  • Treating my Seasonal Affective Disorder by taking naps. (I don’t know if this is a medically approved course of treatment, but it has the advantage of being free, whether you have health insurance or not.
  • I’m still paying my monthly COBRA bill to keep the good health insurance I’ve got for a few more months. And then there’s the rent, the credit cards, food, gas . . .

Most recently, visited the Christmas Bazaar at my church, near the end of the second day of the event. They had marked everything down to half price. I bought two ancient commemorative tin wall hangings, one with a picture of JFK, the other with a picture of Jackie. They still have the original Hecht Co. price tags. Hecht Co. sold the plates for $1 each in 1977. I bought the pair for $1 at the church bazaar. What do you suppose they would fetch on eBay? (They’re not for sale at any price.)

Jack and Jackie and Hecht Co. have all passed on to their rewards. I am delighted to be living life, with my memory and my health still in good working order.

— John Hayden