"The story of one 99er." (SmileyRose)

[Tess Anderson]

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The brother is chronically unemployed in Michigan - well, maybe with the party shift in the state, things will turn around if he stops worrying about who to blame and realizes he's a little old to have a "mentor":

SmileyRose (1000+ posts)      Sat Dec-11-10 11:53 AM
Original message
The story of one 99er.
 My brother has been unemployed for more than 2 years. I'm not talking about "not employed in his field". I'm talking about no job. Period.

My brother is 57. He is a tall big man that can be a little intimidating at first, but has good hearty laugh and a very soft heart. He barely made it through high school by going to the vocational school the last 3 years. He's Nascar and fishing boats and one too many beers on the weekends. He will give you 100% all of the time and will do anything for anyone anytime if he can - and if he can't, he'll find a buddy that can.

He worked at the same place since high school, has the same phone number, lives in the same Michigan town. He's all grey now, and little too thick in the middle. His dress up clothes are his "good jeans and belt buckle". He and his wife have managed to raise 3 incredible girls - 1 is in college and the other 2 are getting close.


He worked for the same family business all his adult life until 2 years ago. The owner decided the profits weren't high enough to warrant the headaches, his kids didn't want the business, so he decided to close it up and retire with his millions. He gave my brother a glowing recommendation and helped him get placed with a competitor an hour's drive away. 6 months later the new employer realized that upper middle class and rich people weren't spending money on the house anymore and he had too many employees. He let my brother go - and told him he hated to do so.

My brother is so good at what he does and has so many good references, is such a hard worker - He and everyone expected him to land somewhere really quick.

And then the housing market disintegrated even further. His part of Michigan really fell apart. He picked up some odd jobs with pay under the table, hoping to turn it into a real job. He knows a lifetime of work experience in one place is working against him now. That industry will be dead for the rest of his lifetime. He knows learning something new is almost impossible for him. These days he cries himself to sleep sometimes and is wondering if he has any value in this world. He feels like a failure as a man because his wife is having to support him. The mental toll it's taken only makes it harder for him to land another job.


The unemployment checks are a mere lifeline to a place to live and a pantry with some dry beans and rice. What he really needs at this point is a mentor who can help him land an apprenticeship somewhere where he won't get cut in 6 months. Whatever you want to say about "bootstraps" - his are just plain wore out.

He knows his labors for have made a lot of rich people richer through the years and they have thrown him aside now that people aren't using houses like ATM's anymore. When they get on the TV or the radio and start hollering about hard work, he tends to cuss these days.

He blames himself
the politicians
rich people in general
and every American who insisted on buying cheaper foreign made goods the last 30 years.

He doesn't want unemployment checks.
He wants a job that will support his family in the most humble of terms and get his daughters through college.

 

[Mike220]

He doesn't want unemployment checks.
He wants a job that will support his family in the most humble of terms and get his daughters through college.

Yes he does. If he wanted "a job" to support his family, he would have found one by now.

I have little sympathy for anyone unemployed that long. You might have to take a job that you feel is "beneath yourself" for a little while but you can find a job with hard work.

[JohnnyReb]

The union broke those rich people....but it's still all their fault.

[Chris_]

After two years, I would have moved the hell out of Michigan.

[CC27]

He worked for the same family business all his adult life until 2 years ago. The owner decided the profits weren't high enough to warrant the headaches, his kids didn't want the business, so he decided to close it up and retire with his millions

[GOBUCKS]

Yep, it's a full-blown depression in the Michigan bouncy ball industry. Damn Bush.

[Ree]

bet this "brother" only exists in cyberland....

[Carl]

It wouldn`t be my wish but hell,if I had to I would go back to milking cows and shoveling manure on a farm somewhere.
Grew up in it and it didn`t kill me.

[jukin]

He worked for the same family business all his adult life until 2 years ago. The owner decided the profits weren't high enough to warrant the headaches, his kids didn't want the business, so he decided to close it up and retire with his millions.

Well clearly, the owner should have to pay more taxes, more UE insurance, and have more regulations heaped on him. They come so close to actually figuring it out and then fall back on class warfare. Well, no matter what, it is probably because Michigan has been such a conservative bastion for the last 30 years that the economic situationis so poor. 

[Evil_Conservative]

It wouldn`t be my wish but hell,if I had to I would go back to milking cows and shoveling manure on a farm somewhere.
Grew up in it and it didn`t kill me.

My second cousin and her husband have a large farm in South Dakota.  They have a man who comes all the way from New York to work with them for every harvest.  I would do the same thing if that was my only option.

[true_blood]

In case you're wondering, Crazy Dave got it all covered. He's been "around" it seems.

Crazy Dave  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)    Sat Dec-11-10 12:29 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. There's a lot of jerk employers out there now I can tell just by their craiglist ads how important they feel about themselves now when only three years ago they were begging for workers and hiring undocumented ones.
You'll see an ad for janitor or dishwasher and it will demand a resume with a cover letter, a drug and background check, list five previous employers who will be called, and (this is for real) write a two page essay telling us why you should be the person we hire for minimum wage. Seriously...whoever heard of a janitor that doesn't smoke a little weed? Janitors used to be the safest and most reliable supply source back in the good ole days.

[GOBUCKS]

Crazy Dave  Donating Member  (1000+ posts)    Sat Dec-11-10 12:29 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. There's a lot of jerk employers out there now I can tell just by their craiglist ads how important they feel about themselves now when only three years ago they were begging for workers and hiring undocumented ones.

Well, DUmmy Crazy Dave, let's see....who was Chief Executive three years ago, when employers were begging for employees? Was it the Kenyan muslim? No, three years ago he was busy voting "present" and hollering "Amen!" at Jeremiah Wright's vicious racist rants, while campaigning in Cook County cemeteries. It couldn't have been Chimpy McCokespoon, could it? Why, I think it was! Those boom years of full employment were during the two stolen terms of President Smirk!! Do you miss him yet?

[Evil_Conservative]

8. There's a lot of jerk employers out there now I can tell just by their craiglist ads how important they feel about themselves now when only three years ago they were begging for workers and hiring undocumented ones.

Why would you look for a job on Craig's List?

Why not a more legitimate site like Monster or Careerbuilder?

[Tucker]

bet this "brother" only exists in cyberland....

I bet the SmileyRose character and his brother are one in the same. This is an old primitive trick they use to deflect criticism.

I did find this part as a possible reason the SmileyRose character is still unemployed, "and one too many beers on the weekends." Where does the money come from?

[ExGeeEye]

Because craigslist has that cool "peace" (footprint of the unAmerican chicken) icon on the faves page, which means they're really NOT one of the eeeeevil money-hungry crapitolist worker-exploiters!

[diesel driver]

It wouldn`t be my wish but hell,if I had to I would go back to milking cows and shoveling manure on a farm somewhere.
Grew up in it and it didn`t kill me.

You and me both, brother!

Used to run barefooted thru the feedlots in the summertime rounding up the cows to me milked.  
THAT'S probably the reason today that I don't catch every "bug" that goes around.  (Might be the reason I wear a size 12 shoe, too.)  

[JohnnyReb]

You and me both, brother!

Used to run barefooted thru the feedlots in the summertime rounding up the cows to me milked.  
THAT'S probably the reason today that I don't catch every "bug" that goes around.  (Might be the reason I wear a size 12 shoe, too.)  

Going barefoot in cow manure made me 6'4" tall.... ....would have been taller but like diesel driver, they turned to much out.

[BlueStateSaint]

Why would you look for a job on Craig's List?

Why not a more legitimate site like Monster or Careerbuilder?

Because the two "more legitimate" sites don't have an Adult Services section?