About being laid off and unwanted when you're 59

The Star (South Chicago) ^ | 4/23/6 | Michael Bowers

[SmithL]

One of my readers is an underemployed 59-year-old man from among us here in the South Suburbs. Call him Harry. He works in information technology. Slowly and wearily, he says: "Once you get past 50, I swear, it gets tough, it gets really tough."

For instance, Harry applied for a job with a city of Chicago department that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He got an offer for some contract work. There were no benefits, but it was a paying job.

A woman from the city called him one Monday morning and wanted to know if he could start at midnight. Harry said he'd like to give his current employer a week's notice. That wasn't good enough. The job was gone. The caller told him: "This is a brave new world. Learn to live with it."

[pollyannaish]

You know, I think that is a dead horse mostly. We all know where each other stands on the issue.

Must we continue to beat the poor thing on every single thread?

[marajade]

"What kind of question is that? How rude!"

Why is rude to question how many children a person has if they can't provide for them financially?

[RobbyS]

People who have worked for others all their lives have a hard time getting their minds wrapped around self-employment. You have to find business as well as execute the work. My son does it, but he is one who will work 70+ hours a week.

[RobbyS]

Most children expect to inherit money from dear old dad, not keep him in old age.

[marajade]

What do you mean by "passed on"?

There are conservatives who actually choose to use birth control because they can't afford to raise even one child because of circumstances.

[twidle]

" is globalist claptrap designed to trick Americans into accepting the employment problems in this country, and not to question the looting of our domestic economy by transnationalist outsourcing, offshoring and FDI."

You targeted it, now what will US citizens do about it? Workers let Unions become weak and now have noone to fight for their rights. Can't fly Confederate flag, but Mexican flag ok? Right to bear arms. Do you see the picture yet? Sure you do, but cows already out of barn with Krekorian and his Euthansia baloney sanctioned.

[pollyannaish]

I'm with you Cindy, fwiw. My mother completely changed careers at 61. Pumped new life into her life, although it was difficult.

I say you do what it takes to carve out a good life for yourself. You are owed nothing but opportunity.

[not2worry]

I could not agree more.

This is the exact situation we are finding most "boomers" in and then they expect the government to support them.

Hope he's not crying into his $5.00 latte at Starbucks.

[TexasTransplant]

>>>>"They are in for one heck of a lot of work. And waiting until 40 to get the business going? I don't care what anyone says, you have 10x the energy needed to get a business moving when you are younger. Those 16 hour work days for months straight to get a business rolling wear you down much more when you get older"<<<<

Short story, Company that I worked for had a major growth spurt, hired new (younger) employees had me training them, paid them more and really laid on the perks, the writing was on the wall, another (older like me) employee and I sharing a cold one after work got to talking about it, his Wife asked us why we didn't just start a competing business since we were basically running the operations anyway, at first we had all kinds of reasons why it wouldn't work and we whittled away at each roadblock... That was four years ago and we now hold the same market share % of the company that we left, the new "young" employees lasted for about a year (even after getting raises that doubled what they had started out from).

I may have started it wrong by maxing out every credit card but we made it and the part about not having the energy for 16 hour days is bunk, if I don't see a 16 hour day looking me in the face when I wake up in the morning then I will feel old.

sidebar

I was parked at the grocery store waiting for "she who must be obeyed" and just watched some of the local welfare folks walking up and down the street and thought to myself "that must be what retirement is like" sorry I'm not ready for never ending boredom. I plan to work until the inevitable day that I assume room temp.

TT

[FrdmLvr]

Well, make sure you don't burn your bridges when you leave your job for teaching. I predict you'll want back in after a few years. ---from a teacher

[DLfromthedesert]

You mean Kevorkian. Anyhow, unions became obsolete when they started fighting for socialist government programs instead of better conditions for their workers.

[TheOracleAtLilac]

...with Krekorian and his Euthanasia baloney

Ya can't have it both ways.

What are you decrying - GM financial health or assisted suicide ?

[CindyDawg]

Well see that's the thing All my working life I have has a 9-5 M-F problem. My office is now at my home. I haven't even opened yet and yes I have already spent a lot of late nights and weekends working. It's a happy work though. I can stop what I'm doing and do something around the house or run errands when I need too. I've done this non profit before so from the teaching end I'm ok. State regs and business wise it's new. I have a counselor with the small business bureau that is helping me. I have some wonderful people in the community that know me and are also helping me with equipment and space to keep my overhead down until I'm up and running. I'm not quiting my day job just yet. I do plan to go part time soon though.

[CindyDawg]

have has. ummmm. Good thing I'm not teaching English.

[investigateworld]

Retirement was fun.... but it got old.
I started my new biz at 50+, man what a ride.

[Tribune7]

If we were to tax health benefits as income a lot of problems would be solved.

[CindyDawg]

I meant if her parents chose to use birth control, which one of the kids would she have had them decide they didn't want. Sorry tortise. It's just a mom thing that riled me. If I was your mom, I would have smacked you for calling me a fool:')

[Junior_G]

These articles always seem to bring out the worst in Freepers. Stories of people being unemployed or in some kind of bad financial predicament just serve as an opportunity for folks to say "well they deserve it for not starting their own company like me!" or "they deserve it for not being independently wealthy already...like me!" It isn't so much sage advice as it is anonymous internet boasting.

[SamAdams76]

You attack me because I have accepted responsibility for "ourselves" (wife of 38 years) and worked towards being as financial sufficient as we could and then you claim to know that we have never been through a "major tragedy". You don't have a clue mam or sir, what ever the case may be. And no I am not going to share the challenges my wife and I have faced on a public board with you.

I know where you are coming from and I get that all the time. Like you, I am not the type to air my dirty laundry in public and in fact, I prefer to talk about the good things that go on in my life. Therefore, because of my positive attitude, everybody around me assumes that, unlike them, I have a "perfect life" and thus I cannot possibly know what they are going through because I "never had to deal with tragedy or unfortunate events" in my life.

It's an assumption that people are quick to make about those who don't sit around bitching and complaining all the time about how life has done them wrong.