I think the most unpleasant jobs are the ones that are meaningless; where you feel like you're not actually creating anything of value.
I used to work as an analyst running models to calculate the financial risk figures for a big company. It was horrible because the models were stupid. There was a lot of emphasis on precision and not so much on accuracy... and I had no real say about how I did my job. I felt like all the time I spent working there was time lost.
So I think people are oversimplifying when they think the worst jobs are the ones that involve physical exertion and touching smelly objects. So long as a job gives you an opportunity to feel connected to the world, and to feel like you're contributing something, I think it has a chance of making someone happy. I'd much rather pick up garbage than do that job again.
I don't think the world will fall apart if everyone seeks meaningful work. I think it would be better, like the author of this article suggests.
On the other hand, as other people have said, I don't think you need to be in debt to fear for the future. I'm not in debt, and I'm scared when I think too far into the future. I still have to make sure I have a job atleast most of the time to pay for food and shelter.
These are great tips. I'm someone who doesn't watch the news other than to find out what's been re-called, hurricanes, and other things that may effect me.
Well, I was not at all worried about the economy when I was finally old enough to look for a job. I had one and everything was peachy- in Texas. I come back to St. Pete, FL and now there's only some skinny pickings for jobs.
Optimistic, I rode my bike all over town to find a job. I was 17. I almost got hired but wasn't 18 so that ruined it.
I finally turned 18, had a place in my name, and not even a minimum wage job existed in my city anymore. All the jobs were gone. The only thing left was bs sales type jobs where you only got commission. Yeah, no thanks.
The first time a "Help Wanted" sign had been posted in over a year, not even a day later it was taken down. This was for a part-time cashier at Dollar Tree! I talked to the man at the desk and he said in that in just 2 hours, they ran out of paper apps. Over 300 people applied in a day! To dollar tree, to make at most $125 a week.
It isn't purely the media. I'm living in it. I'm surviving it. In one of the worst areas in the country, mind you. Our economy has always been weak here, now it's practically non-existent.
I want to move but I can't. Because the cost of living has gone up almost thirty percent in just one year. Even the neighborhood hookers don't make anything worth talking about. It is really that bad.
What this country needs is a serious revival and a new economic model. Otherwise we will continue to have these recessions and depressions each decade, with each one worse than the last until finally we collapse.
I also have a large family (6). We almost always drink water at a restaurant. Even if drinks were only $1.50, which they are not, it would cost us $9.00 every time we ate out. Realistically, drinks are $2 or more a piece. I do not know how this equates to a poor tip - we always tip the server well if he or she was a good server.
As a geeky science professor with little to no fashion sense and questionable social skills, I'm 100% sure that I won't try any of your party ideas. they just aren't my style. But Max, girl you sure can write. I'll be sure to read everything you post. Wish I had those skills. Best of luck to you.
Geisha and Samurai work pretty easy too. Wear a robe and tie a piece of fabric/scarf/shawl/towel/whatever around their waste for an obi. Geishas then get white face, dark eyebrows, and red lips. Bonus points for cheap folding fans or using choptsticks in their hair. Samurais get to carry a sword. Have them practice bowing for when people open the door. Very cute.
I have been with the same company for 28 years. We have merged again, and they are ruthlessly chopping people, little groups at a time. Think about it, they don't want to tarnish their fortune 500 company image or stocks by headlines of thousands laid off. This company has systematically dismantled an awesome company that is over 100 years old, and a great bunch of people. Those that are left behind are devastated. SO, to all those who ask why would anyone want to be laid off, I say why let the bastards get away with you walking away and they don't have to pay severance or unemployment to peole that have dedicated their lives to this company? NO FREAKIN WAY BABY! and to the others that say getting fired will hinder your job search? Companies no longer give out references, because they are afraid of lawsuits. SO, you won't get anything from being loyal to a company. What is in it for empolyees to remain faithful these days? Companies just don't care about the people anymore
My wife passed away two years ago from a single car accident. It was a hard time and as the bills came rolling in for her accident i didn't have the money to pay. I was a full time college student. To make a long story short. they are now popping up on my credit scores. i want to work something out but none of the places a even moving. What do i do?
b_starkes
You've titled this article 'How to Deal with Recession Anxiety', but you've offered no 'real' solutions.
I think the problem is that you started with a false premise, that people have recession anxiety because of uncertainty and the unknown. You've also pointed out that 90% have a job if they want one, and that Recession is a mindset.
Statistically over 20% of Americans are either unemployed, taken significant pay cuts, taken lower paying jobs, recent grads or business owners with reduced earnings. Google: true unemployment rate. That's 1 in 5 people. When you consider how many dual income households there are in the U.S., then you realize it's almost every other house on your block that is making significantly less money.
The point is most people feel anxiety and stress because they are in a situation that is beyond their control, not just uncertainty. It is definitely more than just a mindset.
I'm not sure how suggesting that people have an emergency fund is going to help. It's a little like telling someone lost in the desert to bring along a water bottle. I suppose it's good advice for the next time.
Paying off debt and investing are also good actions, but again irrelevant to the situation.
If you are truly feeling anxiety about the recession you should recognize that there will always be good times and hard times. Focus on the things that you can control today – think day to day. Do not isolate yourself from your community. Recognize that many people are feeling the same effects, and you can help each other out. Further if you are really down consider seeing a doctor or a therapist.
Now if you are one of these people who haven't really been effected by the recession, you should get yourself down to a shelter and volunteer. Nothing clarifies the mind like a little hard work.
if "People do unpleasant things because they've decided the compensation is worth it. " then unpleasant jobs should pay *more* than fun, easy ones. Or at least have other perks - if you dig ditches you get to work fewer hours! If you work in the ER you make more money than someone who just does nose jobs all day. Instead it's the other way around.
Partly that's because we have all sorts of "incentives" to keep people working - we're not even free to be homeless and hungry, there are vagrancy laws against that.
But also, don't forget the influence of prison labor and slave labor.
About 10 years ago in my hometown, the egg factory couldn't find anyone to work - the general economy was good, wages were high, and the factory was really, really unpleasant. Even migrant workers and people without immigration papers could find better jobs.
So what did the owners do: raise wages until someone would work there? No. Build a bigger, better-ventilated building so it was a nicer place to work? No. Offer better working hours, benefits, or other perks? No.
They went to the state and got permission to use prison labor.
It looks to me as though really frugal living is a doable approach to life today, with one serious exception. This is health care. Even for the people who own a small house on a small plot of land where they can raise most of their own food and who have a way to make enough cash to buy seeds and even to purchase whatever else they can't get by barter, health care is still a serious problem. It's an insurmountable problem if one agrees that everybody should have access to the procedures, medicines, and devices that are available in standard medical practice. But even for someone who would be willing to accept medical care at the level of, say, 1950 or 1960, it's impossible because that health care is gone, unobtainable, owing to the incredible increases in such things as drug and hospital costs. In 1950, I'll bet that a day in the hospital was less expensive than a day in a fancy urban hotel.
So, really well-designed health care reform, the kind being fought so frantically by well-known elements, is more than anything else the key to freedom in America.
I watch the Mad Max movies and see what I will need after the market melts down. I figure gas, a fast car, canned food, and guns would be the short list. An emergency fund would be great at first, but when the banks fail, it won't be worth much. Bartering for stuff would pretty much be the new economy, that and marauding the countryside. Wish me luck.
Could you send me the info on drip irrigation too??
I'm trying hard to migrate way from the grocery store for all but dairy (we're not allowed to have chickens or small goats in our area).
My blue berry bushes keep dieing - something about the ground/soil. The local extension office only covers flowers & pretty
gardens - not home food gardens & plants so, if anyone has any info on that please drop me a line too.
Specialization can hurt you in many ways - you get laid off & what if no one needs your skill set??
What else can you do to earn money?
I'm brilliant at what I do 9-5 but I want to be able to hobble along if I get laid off and can't find work. If I can make things at home then that'll allow the money I have saved to last longer.
If someone is looking for one of the skill sets I've developed outside of my day job then that could help me out too.
We(my kid & I ) already sell our soda bread to a farmer's market vendor and several individuals. Next year we're thinking of having our own booth for bread, baked goods and small starter plants.
The rustic furniture we build is sturdier then what we see at the store & the food we make usually tastes better then the restaurants. I don't see the point in buying what I can do better.
We buy maybe one electronic device a year & I do think it's worth it to pay someone else for those special devices - I don't think it's worth paying someone for things I can do myself.
For some reason after world war two people wanted to get away from their factory & manual labor jobs - the factory job came to be looked down upon. My Grandpa and 3-4 of his siblings were a factory line workers so I saw this with in my own family. They all wanted their kids to go to college, have office jobs and never get their hands dirty.
I'd rather be a millionaire with dirt under my nails then running the rat race with immaculate skin & clothes.
What absolute sillyness! The discussion about eating "Organic" or non-organic meat, vegetables, or fruit. Does anyone know the definition of organic? Well I'll tell you. It means ANYTHING that was a living organism. That includes ALL plants and animals. There isn't any non-organic meat or plants. If it lived, it's organic. PERIOD! So now people have changed the meaning of "Organic" to mean something that was ranched or farmed without the use of pesticides, antibiotics, harmones, etc. What balony. How many of you have heard of one single person who got sick, or worse, died from eating something that was defined as "Non-Organic"? I thought so. NO ONE! That's right. And don't try to include food recalls because of contamination like salmonella or E-Coli. That's caused by bad farming/ranching, butchering, or packaging, not because it was produced as a non-organic food product. Regarding poultry specifically, I do have some advice for buying it. First, save your money. Don't pay extra for poultry labled "Organic". Non-organic is just as safe and nutritious. Next, NEVER buy any poultry that is sold "marinated". It's almost always meat that WAS NOT sold before the "Sell Date". So it's taken to the back again and processed, usually by washing away the film or stickiness that developed over days of exposure. Even worse, some butchers will immerse the meat in bleach, which also removes the foul, fowl smell that developed. Yuck! Then they put a marinade on the meat to cover any more bad smell, and put it back out in the meat case for sale. ALWAYS check the "sell by" dates on a package. If you want your meat marinaded, do it at home and use your own. In case you don't know, the so called "Cage Free" or "Free Range" poultry is still more misleading information. You may visualize birds roaming around a big pasture, eating natural food. Nope. Chicken and turkey growers can't afford that kind if space and time it would take. Remember, they are raising hundreds of thousands of birds. They may not be in a cage, but they're still crammed together in pens and fed special feed for quick growing. So either accept it or become a vegetarian. Forgo the fact that you are an omnivorous animal, best nourished by both meat and plants. You know, I've always wondered. When a "vegan" has a baby, what does she feed it? It certainly can't be milk. That's from an animal. The little rascal must be stuffed with cereal and miss all the anti-bodies supplied in "mother's milk". Poor thing.
This is a thought-provoking post. I think part of the problem is the image the media portrays of the "American Dream", it's a kind of Have it all if you work like a dog. Which isn't necessarily true. Many people sink into debt to attain what they think they deserve. And, by that, I mean what the media has portrayed what they should have. For instance, if you watch movies or TV, the characters are living a kind of fantasy-life. They own huge houses, terrific cars, wear hip clothing, but their job (if they even mention one) really wouldn't support that lifestyle in real-life.
So, the conundrum is, where do we go from here? Do we pressure the media and entertainment industries into showing us a more realistic view of life? Do we avoid the media all together? Do we get rid of all of our materialistic needs and wants and go with a simplistic, bucolic life-style? Does that even exist?
P.S. I check out one of your other articles about dangerous neighborhoods and commuting. I'm currently reading a Jane Jacobs book about urban planning, it's really fascinating. The suburbs aren't really that safe, based on what makes a city safe!
Save even more my canceling completely. I did this over two years ago. If I want to watch a movie then I rent one for $1 from Redbox.
Wow! I just discovered hulu, is this the end? Hulu worked for me because I don't have cable, added some variety for my TV entertainment.
I think the most unpleasant jobs are the ones that are meaningless; where you feel like you're not actually creating anything of value.
I used to work as an analyst running models to calculate the financial risk figures for a big company. It was horrible because the models were stupid. There was a lot of emphasis on precision and not so much on accuracy... and I had no real say about how I did my job. I felt like all the time I spent working there was time lost.
So I think people are oversimplifying when they think the worst jobs are the ones that involve physical exertion and touching smelly objects. So long as a job gives you an opportunity to feel connected to the world, and to feel like you're contributing something, I think it has a chance of making someone happy. I'd much rather pick up garbage than do that job again.
I don't think the world will fall apart if everyone seeks meaningful work. I think it would be better, like the author of this article suggests.
On the other hand, as other people have said, I don't think you need to be in debt to fear for the future. I'm not in debt, and I'm scared when I think too far into the future. I still have to make sure I have a job atleast most of the time to pay for food and shelter.
Another tip...if you get a 6 or 12 month promo, add a note to your Google calendar with an e-mail reminder for when it's going to expire.
I should get a notice a month before my $20/month Comcast internet disappears. That will give me the time I need to find another great deal.
holy crap
Do you thing that this steps can be done in other country ,with low-level market ?
is spot on. The suggestions, while valid are a bit like closing the barn after the horses have run out. These are all things for NEXT time.
stress causes impulse buying in my opinion.
Linsey, say it ain't so.
You can also follow me on Twitter and Trek Hound.
These are great tips. I'm someone who doesn't watch the news other than to find out what's been re-called, hurricanes, and other things that may effect me.
Well, I was not at all worried about the economy when I was finally old enough to look for a job. I had one and everything was peachy- in Texas. I come back to St. Pete, FL and now there's only some skinny pickings for jobs.
Optimistic, I rode my bike all over town to find a job. I was 17. I almost got hired but wasn't 18 so that ruined it.
I finally turned 18, had a place in my name, and not even a minimum wage job existed in my city anymore. All the jobs were gone. The only thing left was bs sales type jobs where you only got commission. Yeah, no thanks.
The first time a "Help Wanted" sign had been posted in over a year, not even a day later it was taken down. This was for a part-time cashier at Dollar Tree! I talked to the man at the desk and he said in that in just 2 hours, they ran out of paper apps. Over 300 people applied in a day! To dollar tree, to make at most $125 a week.
It isn't purely the media. I'm living in it. I'm surviving it. In one of the worst areas in the country, mind you. Our economy has always been weak here, now it's practically non-existent.
I want to move but I can't. Because the cost of living has gone up almost thirty percent in just one year. Even the neighborhood hookers don't make anything worth talking about. It is really that bad.
What this country needs is a serious revival and a new economic model. Otherwise we will continue to have these recessions and depressions each decade, with each one worse than the last until finally we collapse.
I also have a large family (6). We almost always drink water at a restaurant. Even if drinks were only $1.50, which they are not, it would cost us $9.00 every time we ate out. Realistically, drinks are $2 or more a piece. I do not know how this equates to a poor tip - we always tip the server well if he or she was a good server.
As a geeky science professor with little to no fashion sense and questionable social skills, I'm 100% sure that I won't try any of your party ideas. they just aren't my style. But Max, girl you sure can write. I'll be sure to read everything you post. Wish I had those skills. Best of luck to you.
Geisha and Samurai work pretty easy too. Wear a robe and tie a piece of fabric/scarf/shawl/towel/whatever around their waste for an obi. Geishas then get white face, dark eyebrows, and red lips. Bonus points for cheap folding fans or using choptsticks in their hair. Samurais get to carry a sword. Have them practice bowing for when people open the door. Very cute.
I have been with the same company for 28 years. We have merged again, and they are ruthlessly chopping people, little groups at a time. Think about it, they don't want to tarnish their fortune 500 company image or stocks by headlines of thousands laid off. This company has systematically dismantled an awesome company that is over 100 years old, and a great bunch of people. Those that are left behind are devastated. SO, to all those who ask why would anyone want to be laid off, I say why let the bastards get away with you walking away and they don't have to pay severance or unemployment to peole that have dedicated their lives to this company? NO FREAKIN WAY BABY! and to the others that say getting fired will hinder your job search? Companies no longer give out references, because they are afraid of lawsuits. SO, you won't get anything from being loyal to a company. What is in it for empolyees to remain faithful these days? Companies just don't care about the people anymore
My wife passed away two years ago from a single car accident. It was a hard time and as the bills came rolling in for her accident i didn't have the money to pay. I was a full time college student. To make a long story short. they are now popping up on my credit scores. i want to work something out but none of the places a even moving. What do i do?
b_starkes
You've titled this article 'How to Deal with Recession Anxiety', but you've offered no 'real' solutions.
I think the problem is that you started with a false premise, that people have recession anxiety because of uncertainty and the unknown. You've also pointed out that 90% have a job if they want one, and that Recession is a mindset.
Statistically over 20% of Americans are either unemployed, taken significant pay cuts, taken lower paying jobs, recent grads or business owners with reduced earnings. Google: true unemployment rate. That's 1 in 5 people. When you consider how many dual income households there are in the U.S., then you realize it's almost every other house on your block that is making significantly less money.
The point is most people feel anxiety and stress because they are in a situation that is beyond their control, not just uncertainty. It is definitely more than just a mindset.
I'm not sure how suggesting that people have an emergency fund is going to help. It's a little like telling someone lost in the desert to bring along a water bottle. I suppose it's good advice for the next time.
Paying off debt and investing are also good actions, but again irrelevant to the situation.
If you are truly feeling anxiety about the recession you should recognize that there will always be good times and hard times. Focus on the things that you can control today – think day to day. Do not isolate yourself from your community. Recognize that many people are feeling the same effects, and you can help each other out. Further if you are really down consider seeing a doctor or a therapist.
Now if you are one of these people who haven't really been effected by the recession, you should get yourself down to a shelter and volunteer. Nothing clarifies the mind like a little hard work.
if "People do unpleasant things because they've decided the compensation is worth it. " then unpleasant jobs should pay *more* than fun, easy ones. Or at least have other perks - if you dig ditches you get to work fewer hours! If you work in the ER you make more money than someone who just does nose jobs all day. Instead it's the other way around.
Partly that's because we have all sorts of "incentives" to keep people working - we're not even free to be homeless and hungry, there are vagrancy laws against that.
But also, don't forget the influence of prison labor and slave labor.
About 10 years ago in my hometown, the egg factory couldn't find anyone to work - the general economy was good, wages were high, and the factory was really, really unpleasant. Even migrant workers and people without immigration papers could find better jobs.
So what did the owners do: raise wages until someone would work there? No. Build a bigger, better-ventilated building so it was a nicer place to work? No. Offer better working hours, benefits, or other perks? No.
They went to the state and got permission to use prison labor.
It looks to me as though really frugal living is a doable approach to life today, with one serious exception. This is health care. Even for the people who own a small house on a small plot of land where they can raise most of their own food and who have a way to make enough cash to buy seeds and even to purchase whatever else they can't get by barter, health care is still a serious problem. It's an insurmountable problem if one agrees that everybody should have access to the procedures, medicines, and devices that are available in standard medical practice. But even for someone who would be willing to accept medical care at the level of, say, 1950 or 1960, it's impossible because that health care is gone, unobtainable, owing to the incredible increases in such things as drug and hospital costs. In 1950, I'll bet that a day in the hospital was less expensive than a day in a fancy urban hotel.
So, really well-designed health care reform, the kind being fought so frantically by well-known elements, is more than anything else the key to freedom in America.
I think I'll be taking this concept and running with it. Can you share the tea recipie?
I watch the Mad Max movies and see what I will need after the market melts down. I figure gas, a fast car, canned food, and guns would be the short list. An emergency fund would be great at first, but when the banks fail, it won't be worth much. Bartering for stuff would pretty much be the new economy, that and marauding the countryside. Wish me luck.
Could you send me the info on drip irrigation too??
I'm trying hard to migrate way from the grocery store for all but dairy (we're not allowed to have chickens or small goats in our area).
My blue berry bushes keep dieing - something about the ground/soil. The local extension office only covers flowers & pretty
gardens - not home food gardens & plants so, if anyone has any info on that please drop me a line too.
sam12587@gmail.com
Good article Mr. Brewer. thank you :-)
Specialization can hurt you in many ways - you get laid off & what if no one needs your skill set??
What else can you do to earn money?
I'm brilliant at what I do 9-5 but I want to be able to hobble along if I get laid off and can't find work. If I can make things at home then that'll allow the money I have saved to last longer.
If someone is looking for one of the skill sets I've developed outside of my day job then that could help me out too.
We(my kid & I ) already sell our soda bread to a farmer's market vendor and several individuals. Next year we're thinking of having our own booth for bread, baked goods and small starter plants.
The rustic furniture we build is sturdier then what we see at the store & the food we make usually tastes better then the restaurants. I don't see the point in buying what I can do better.
We buy maybe one electronic device a year & I do think it's worth it to pay someone else for those special devices - I don't think it's worth paying someone for things I can do myself.
For some reason after world war two people wanted to get away from their factory & manual labor jobs - the factory job came to be looked down upon. My Grandpa and 3-4 of his siblings were a factory line workers so I saw this with in my own family. They all wanted their kids to go to college, have office jobs and never get their hands dirty.
I'd rather be a millionaire with dirt under my nails then running the rat race with immaculate skin & clothes.
What absolute sillyness! The discussion about eating "Organic" or non-organic meat, vegetables, or fruit. Does anyone know the definition of organic? Well I'll tell you. It means ANYTHING that was a living organism. That includes ALL plants and animals. There isn't any non-organic meat or plants. If it lived, it's organic. PERIOD! So now people have changed the meaning of "Organic" to mean something that was ranched or farmed without the use of pesticides, antibiotics, harmones, etc. What balony. How many of you have heard of one single person who got sick, or worse, died from eating something that was defined as "Non-Organic"? I thought so. NO ONE! That's right. And don't try to include food recalls because of contamination like salmonella or E-Coli. That's caused by bad farming/ranching, butchering, or packaging, not because it was produced as a non-organic food product. Regarding poultry specifically, I do have some advice for buying it. First, save your money. Don't pay extra for poultry labled "Organic". Non-organic is just as safe and nutritious. Next, NEVER buy any poultry that is sold "marinated". It's almost always meat that WAS NOT sold before the "Sell Date". So it's taken to the back again and processed, usually by washing away the film or stickiness that developed over days of exposure. Even worse, some butchers will immerse the meat in bleach, which also removes the foul, fowl smell that developed. Yuck! Then they put a marinade on the meat to cover any more bad smell, and put it back out in the meat case for sale. ALWAYS check the "sell by" dates on a package. If you want your meat marinaded, do it at home and use your own. In case you don't know, the so called "Cage Free" or "Free Range" poultry is still more misleading information. You may visualize birds roaming around a big pasture, eating natural food. Nope. Chicken and turkey growers can't afford that kind if space and time it would take. Remember, they are raising hundreds of thousands of birds. They may not be in a cage, but they're still crammed together in pens and fed special feed for quick growing. So either accept it or become a vegetarian. Forgo the fact that you are an omnivorous animal, best nourished by both meat and plants. You know, I've always wondered. When a "vegan" has a baby, what does she feed it? It certainly can't be milk. That's from an animal. The little rascal must be stuffed with cereal and miss all the anti-bodies supplied in "mother's milk". Poor thing.
This is a thought-provoking post. I think part of the problem is the image the media portrays of the "American Dream", it's a kind of Have it all if you work like a dog. Which isn't necessarily true. Many people sink into debt to attain what they think they deserve. And, by that, I mean what the media has portrayed what they should have. For instance, if you watch movies or TV, the characters are living a kind of fantasy-life. They own huge houses, terrific cars, wear hip clothing, but their job (if they even mention one) really wouldn't support that lifestyle in real-life.
So, the conundrum is, where do we go from here? Do we pressure the media and entertainment industries into showing us a more realistic view of life? Do we avoid the media all together? Do we get rid of all of our materialistic needs and wants and go with a simplistic, bucolic life-style? Does that even exist?
P.S. I check out one of your other articles about dangerous neighborhoods and commuting. I'm currently reading a Jane Jacobs book about urban planning, it's really fascinating. The suburbs aren't really that safe, based on what makes a city safe!
Here are some of my favorites:
Living the Simple Life by Elaine St. James
Simple Living by Elaine St. James
The Simple Living Guide by Janet Luhrs
I'm sure you can find these books at your local library or bookstore.
This was a very interesting post that makes me want to know more (always a good thing!).
I love pepper & it was cool to see that it actually does something rather than just give flavor to food.
I mentioned this post & gave you a link in my blog today. Thanks!
Sheila
s/v So It Goes...
All About Boats, So It Goes