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Kathryn Mayer • Writing Out Loud

I write stuff down. writer • humorist • activist

Doom & Gloom

March 12, 2009 by Kate Mayer 3 Comments

Last year my goal was to make $20,000 as a part-time, freelance copywriter. I made less than five. Disappointed but not broken, this year I vowed to wow the industry and return triumphant after the childrearing hiatus I survived. Nearly four months in, and I’ve billed $145.00. One hundred, forty-five. That’s billed, not received.

Hmmmmm, apparently my return-to-work, I-am-woman-hear-me-roar work ethic has hit the economic tsunami, and while I pound the virtual pavement seeking to network, those far more connected than I easily plow me under.

It’s the ‘back of the line’ for me buster.  There’s no work out there, a ga-zillion of people looking for it, and return-to-work moms aren’t on the list.  

Don’t give me the “look at the glass half full” speech. I’m so flippin’ sick of the pollyannas that blame this mess on the news anchors and doomsday newspapers (those still publishing…), internet rumors, and cynics like me. Get your head out of the sand. It sucks out there and it’s real and it’s bad and it’s personal.

Out of work parents apply for free lunch at the schools. Kids pulled out of daycare and after-school programs. For sale signs pepper trailer parks and mansion row. Kids rosters short players, but plenty of out-of-work parents willing to coach. Community colleges burst with desperate kids and professionals looking to reinvent or complete an education. Corporate casualties bag groceries and wait tables and happy to do it. No one is immune.  

A telecommuting dad told me recently he panics when he hears the garage door open mid-day.  Or a cell phone call before dinner leaves you wondering if they’re carrying a box to their car, escorted.

A New York cop said the commute in is quick, because no one’s on the roads, and less pedestrian traffic on the streets once in. And he sadly adds the recession is job security, as theft and domestic violence calls are way, way up. Ugh.  

It’s dark and gloomy and I’m looking for funny, really I am, but nobody’s laughing.


Biting My Tongue during racist conversation
My Town

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    March 12, 2009 at 2:08 pm

    No kidding! I thought at Christmas when the stores were still crowded and February break, when people were still traveling that this was all media hype. But yesterday when stopping to pick up a few things at Target and Wal-mart, the stores were empty! I had no trouble finding a parking spot! The holiday isle was filled with Easter stuff. This is no joke folks! I also think we haven’t seen the worst yet. Let’s hang in there and keep our wits about us!

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says

    March 12, 2009 at 3:43 pm

    i’m not known to be a glass-half-full kind of girl, and i’d never have wished for even a bit of this, but i’m feeling more grateful than ever. although the way things were might have been easier for most, our country was a bunch of gluttonous spoiled brats. it’s too bad that so many who weren’t living that way are suffering, but it was time for a national soul correction. i hope we learn something…

    Reply
  3. Anonymous says

    April 8, 2009 at 3:54 pm

    What amazes me are the people who are unaware of the financial crisis that we’re in. The ones still buying “JUNK” willy nilly. Get a grip people, quit being so materialistic and just be happy if you’ve got your health and anyone to share your life with.

    Reply

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Writing out loud. Storyteller. Humorist. Activist. Newtown, CT #insidethoughts #humor #emptynest #midlife #endgunviolence #binders

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About Kathryn Mayer

CT writer humorist activist kathryn mayer

An irreverent storyteller with a foul mouth and big heart, Kathryn Mayer (also known by Kathy and Kate), is a writer, humorist, and activist writing out loud with humor and grace about the little moments of life with big ripples, including parenting, social issues, midlife, and, sigh, gun violence prevention. Sometimes a big deal, sometimes notMayer is national award-winning columnist, according to the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and her essays have been recognized as Voice of the Year from SheKnows/BlogHer, named Best … Read More Here...

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