When I was 13 in 1968 I mowed lawns, collected soda bottles and did odd jobs for people in my small town of less than 400 in rural MISSISSIPPI.
Work is there if you want it....................
I have been reading the same headline and story every year since 1968. You’re right, work is there if you want it. It was then and is now.
You and I are the same age and appear to have had similar experiences, just different places. My town was medium-sized (12K) in southern Kansas and I recall seeing similar stories back then yet I found work. Sometimes, work found me as a neighbor worked for the state employment service and regularly called me for jobs they had on the board. Lots of unloading of trucks with one longer gig working on a local hog farm.