I don't need to tell you that unemployment is through the roof. U6 is at 20+% nationwide, and in NYC it is as bad as anywhere else. At some point, we as a nation need to figure out that the private sector will not save us, rather they are strangling us, but, that is not why I write today, although it is an issue that must be addressed if we are to recover from the Bush/Cheney depression anytime soon.
In New York City you can see the class warfare at it's prime. A few bonus baby Wall St types who tanked the whole economy on us yuk it up over drinks while a ton of busboys sweat it out for that extra buck.
Well, I have hit my breaking point. I have no job, no money, and no more patience. As much as I love the Big Rotten Apple, I have to say Good Bye, New York City.
This town is too rich for my blue collared blood. I have tried bootstraps. I have tried denying things like health care and dentist appointments, eating out and other non-necessities.
And I have had enough.
If that's moving up then I'm moving out.
Crossposted at docudharma.com
My last employment was as a retail manager, but my room-mate lost his job as an iron worker back in August and I had to make due by myself, which ate up any savings I had and put me in the red. I moved in with my brother, a situation that was stressful, to say the least. Then I lost my job. After two months of looking for work at a comparable wage, I decided to take whatever I could get, which was a job that paid less for more hours.
I wont lie to you. I make a pretty crappy wage slave. If you give me a job I can put my mind to I will work my ass off for you, but if you give me a menial job based on mindless repetitive motion I will quickly lose my mind.
After a month with this new job I quit. I thought that I would land something better soon enough. How wrong I was.
Prices are high, wages are low, and jobs are scarce and low paying for far too many of us, but a few among us live like nobles, and they drive up the prices on everything, but don't tip very well for some strange reason.
I never got my college degree. I would like to go back to school, but that 3 meals a day thing keeps getting in the way. Some habits are hard to break. Many of us end up joining the work force because education is too expensive, too time consuming, and just not realistic in the workaday world. I wish I could pursue journalism or teaching, but I need to put a roof over my head, and I can no longer afford to do so in NYC.
Some day I will go back to school and get that degree. President Obama wants us to retrain ourselves for the new economy, and I would like to meet his challenge, but first I have to worry about today and where my next meal is coming from. In a better world we would not have to choose between the two.
The rich get richer no matter how bad they fuck it up for the rest of us, and the poor carry on, struggling to make ends meet while the special interests wring every last cent they can out of us. When we ask them to stop for pity's sake they say they don't believe in empathy, and where they have more money they have less empathy. Go figure. I'll have to remember that the next time they need a bailout.
But as for me, I am moving out. Where, I don't know. I packed my stuff, just a few things in a book bag, and I'm grabbing my fishing pole and my tackle box. I think a good day by the ocean shore will help me get my bearings straight. Where I go after that I do not know. There are jobs to be had somewhere, but this race to the lowest wage is getting me nowhere in this city. It's too expensive and I can't afford to try to win at the high rollers table anymore. Daddy needs a new pair of shoes, but daddy needs to eat tomorrow too.
So, I shall bid New York City, the Emerald city, which I will always hold dearly in my heart goodbye. I know not where I will go next, but there is no place for me here. These sad crazy street will always exist in the shadows of my soul. The next time you see someone walking out of some place with a job application in there hands, think of me, and yourself. Smile. Wish that guy good luck. No matter how bad things can be, you have to remember how good you really have it.
I had it, and now it's gone. I go now to get it back, though I do not know the way.
I'm broke and I need a job, but I have Hope, and I hope you wish me good luck.
I'm moving out.