This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Wendy’s Story - Cleveland Jobs Challenge
I wrote an article
recently that was critical of Congress’s action to pass a bill
extending unemployment benefits. My primary objection was that our
lawmakers chose to pass yet another deficit spending bill and used the
“emergency” loophole that eliminates the need for Pay Go.
I got lots of feedback from this. Everyone hated my position. Some said
that we needed a $500b deficit package (ala Krugman) and that my
objection to a lousy $34b was misguided. Others said that there should
be no extension of UI at all. A good number suggested that I was a
heartless S.O.B. that had no idea what it was like to be unemployed in
America today. The later group got to me. I have had an exchange of
emails from one person that is facing a wall. She is from Cleveland. Her
name is Wendy. Some comments from her:
I was
wondering.... Have you ever been scared, really scared?
You
speak about H.R. 5618 because it is adding to the debt of the country.
My thought is you are so self absorbed that you would stop reading
this email right now because "unemployed Americans are not worth it"
Have another martini in your condo in Miami and rest easy knowing
you will never be me. Make sure your children and grandchildren know
what you are and what you believe, maybe they already know dad is a
selfish cruel Bastard who believes money is the most important thing.
Thanks to people like you I will continue to go to bed scared of
tomorrow. Sleep wellWendy,Children: Jessy and Parker
I
live in Cleveland, Ohio and am the sole supporter of my children. We
can't pay the mortgage, utilities etc. today. The point for those like
me there is no future- we have to get through today- eat, clothing- I
can't buy detergent today.
I
am a Special education teacher with my Masters degree-- with out a job.
I did what the President said, "go back to school". I took out loans
and studied hard to fulfill the dream of being a Special Education
teacher. I don't want a hand out, just a hand up.
I have to admit that this exchange got to me. There have always been
people like Wendy who fall through the cracks. But we have not been
through times like the ones we are living through for 80 years. I feel
sorry for Wendy, I wish she and all the other Wendy’s did not have to
wake up feeling scared. I would like to help her get a job so she could
get through this period. I know no one in Cleveland and I doubt that the
great state of Ohio is hiring any teachers these days. So she is out of
luck.
Possibly someone can help her. I would like to provide some inducement.
Here is my proposal:
I will put up $6,000 in cash. $3,000 goes to the employer as an
incentive to hire Wendy. No strings attached to that. If a job is
offered and accepted they get the money. They can do with it what they
wish. The other $3,000 goes to Wendy. She gets the money when she takes
the job. This is no freebie.
There is a caveat to this. The job that is offered must provide
compensation to Wendy that is equal to or greater than the unemployment
benefits she is getting. I would like to see that there were health
benefits available at some point. She needs that. The goal here is to
get one person back to work and one less person unemployed. The goal is
to minimize the fear factor. That is no way to live.
So Cleveland, do you have a job for Wendy? If anyone wants to see the
color of my money I would prepay it to one of the Cleveland media to
hold pending a job offer. I have nothing to gain here. Just trying to
help someone out who clearly needs a little help.
I don't know Wendy. My guess, just from reading her words, is that she
would be a good hire for someone. If an employer with a job wants to
take advantage of this offer they should contact Wendy at kindnessmatters2010@gmail.com. Alternatively you could
contact me, BGK.WENDY@gmail.com.
There is a flip side to this proposal. What if no one makes her a job
offer even with a $3,000 incentive to do so? That much money makes her a
free hire for a while. If no jobs are forthcoming it implies that there
is no work for anyone looking. Should that be the case we would have to
conclude that we are in very serious trouble. It would imply that
Wendy, and a few million others, are going fall off a cliff pretty soon.
I’ll let you know the results of this experiment.
»
- advertisements -
Where is your family Wendy?? When times are tough people should turn to their families, not the government.. Should the whole family be broke then by Darwin's logic maybe you should give up your kids and not have anymore. A break in the cycle could be created by allowing your kids to be raised by a stable two parent household not reliant on handouts.
Now bring the hate, but that is the way it was. I don't want to pay taxes for people to have their "own place", when they should be living and relying on family members and living collectively.
[deleted]
people with big extended, fairly well-off families tend not realize how easily decent people can not have family to help. One 50 yr old friend I have has 35 nieces and nephews and I'm sure they are a great help to each other, another 45 year old friend I have lost her mom at a young age, has a disabled dad, and one sister that lost her husband and has had chronic illness and a couple of kids, and couple for cousins with not much money. The one friend could get lots of help from her family, the other one spends lots of disposable income on her dad and her sister.
Having children is what successful people should do, otherwise the country declines (like Japan). Conversely people who cannot provide for themselves should not have children, otherwise the country declines (like US).
You see, the broke need to return humbly and apologize for the decadent lifestyle or offenses made against the family. They then must abide by the family's rules.
The Government wants the broke & unsklled to suffer no indignity and does not require any accountability.
TARP is now the excuse to bail out one and all. What's the matter? Don't you feel sorry for anybody. You must be selfish. It's not like its your money anyway. The government is paying for it.
Don't know what Wendy is complaining about. According the the NY Times, corporations are about to report their best earnings in years and Wall Street is on a hiring bonanza.
Once again the MSM comes to the rescure with bull shit headlines to make people feel better. I really feel for Wendy. Good luck!
Isn't anyone curious why an unemployed special education teacher is doing on a web site like this? Is she into heavy investments while being broke, or is Wendy what they call a "troll with a purpose" i.e. propaganda?
Probably because Spec Ed and PE teachers, Art/Music teachers are the first to be laid off at schools.
I don't like the tone of this thread, so I really didn't want to comment here, but there are gonna be a lot more "professions" in the same boat, if they are not there already. These jobs are NOT coming back, they better find something else to do, or , yes, they are not going to survive.
My big question is, where is the father/s of those children and why are they not paying child support? Takes two to tango. Unless you're Octomom. And don't get me started on her and her doctors. : )
And you're here because? To feel superior?
+1000
Wendy naturally has no concern for anyone but herself, and in her situation, its understandable. However jdrose1985 has it exactly right...she should get the heck out of Cleveland. There is work to be had if youre willing to move. I left dead end PA and found stable, good paying work in RTP, NC, 3 yrs ago.
Americans motto needs to be:go where the work is. That is, until we can hang the bastard Congress that gave us this mess from the fucking yardarm.
Another thing that should have been done a long time ago...shut down the military and use a fraction of the funds to sustain unemployment WHILE THEY ARE MOVING WHERE THE WORK IS!
Lemme see here, Wendy is an unmarried woman supporting children, so she drew herself a handicap from the gitgo. She borrowed money to go to school. Hey Wendy, I worked for years to pay my own way without borrowing.
On top of it she's a school teacher, member of the lovely NEA and loaded with benefits most Americans could only dream of, working in a government job. She probably thought she had that job for life, paid for by taxpayers, and is now angry that she lost it.
Wendy blames Bruce for only thinking about money. The problem with people like Wendy, whom I'd bet is an avid Democrat, is that she thinks money grows on trees "thinks money is the most important thing." That is an odd statement Wendy; you don't have any more moneybut you are angry as hell because the taxpayers won't give you any. I thought you just said money isn't that important, but yet you tongue lash anyone who would deny you. You don't want a hand-out, just a hand-up? I call BS on you as you had unempl benefits available for nearly two years. Wendy, that is a whole LOT more than a hand-up. That is called the dole.
Bruce, your original opinion was correct, but you let this woman pull the same old liberal guilt trip on you and you fell for it. We all lived the good life on borrowed money for a long time and now we have to pay the piper. Who among us even bothered to lift a finger to try to stop this insanity while it was still stoppable? No me, not you, and certainly not Wendy. The fault is ours and now we must pay the price. More borrowed money for more easy living only digs the hole that much deeper. Or maybe you want it deep enought to go all the way to hell to burn our sins away?
-10000000000000000000.
Go back to your cave.
I have empathy for Wendy, but maybe something like this...
http://www.warmblankets.org/dump/cam_dump_640_res_p4.jpg
...would light a fire under her ass?
Maybe she would like to purchase a nice Calvin Klein hat...
http://www.warmblankets.org/dump/cam_dump_640_res_p151.jpg
for her son?
How about some...
http://www.warmblankets.org/dump/cam_dump_640_res_p157.jpg
fast food?
jdrose1985
people like you deserve your future fate.
No empathy, cruelty and disgusting greed are your dominant parts of you. Americans like yourself are the UNIVERSAL ENEMY. The day the damned USoA will disintegrate I will drink a bottle of cognac. I am so sorry for the decent Americans and I can't hate the rest enough. Bruce is GENEROUS and you are a "little" American.
You people disgust me.
I'm stunned by the callous disregard for human suffering that I see displayed in these comments. Xenophobia. Hatred of the poor. Hatred of the lower class. "Lazy". "Single Mother". Dear God in Heaven, I knew some people were that way but I had no idea that they all gathered to comment at ZH.
Bruce does a good deed and you bastards attack HIM?
A small handful of well-connected people on Wall Street got TRILLIONS of dollars handed to them by the Federal Reserve and the Dept of Treasury, and yet these commenters blame the jobless problem on American laziness and H1-B workers?
A single mother of two is suffering because the bankers couldn't live without that vacation home in the Hamptons and the sailboat at the marina, and you bastards attack HER?
The comments on this page illustrate how common, normal, everyday German citizens could willingly participate in exterminating millions of people. I suspect if someone suggested rounding up all the H1-B workers and the unemployed and GASSING them, 80% of the commenters here would give their assent.
If that is who we are, then America cannot fail fast enough.
God help us.
Gassing the H1-B's probably is one of the few options available to deal with them. After all, many of them are in possession of US intellectual property secrets and will gladly missappropriate them if allowed to return to India during a mass deportation scenario.
Unfortunate, but true. Poor motherfuckers, I won't shed a tear when it happens though.
Huh? I think you're a little delusional.
By the way, those pictures are taken by an organization (warm blankets) who gets about 95% of your donations to the people you want to help. That's a Cambodian trash transfer where people wait on dump trucks to bring whatever food they can scrounge. They go in looking for orphans and get them in decent living conditions and do what they can to prepare them to be a positive force in the world.
I put those photos up there to illustrate that here in America we have no idea what real need is. For a lot of people in the world it's all they can do to meet their basic needs such as food and clean water. Here in America we "need" a car, a nice home, a teevee, an unemployment check, ad infinitum.
Yes, even "little Americans" like me can donate time and money to both local and international organizations, mentor kids, do prison ministries, etc.
Get lost.
Edit: I'm a little troubled by your attitude. I was simply saying that maybe Wendy wouldnt be freaking out if she could have a little perspective in her life, you know, clear her mind enough to where she can think her way through this and hopefully make better decisions. I've chose to live in a materially poor way for a lot of reasons so you're waaaay off target. And I actually did time in Lorain Correctional, about 20 minutes west of Cleveland, side by side with the criminals who have lived trifling lives as products of that city. People commit crimes hoping to get caught to get off the streets of that city, literally.
"I put those photos up there to illustrate that here in America we have no idea what real need is."
I always love the way these limousine neolibs and neocons like jdrose1985, who've never been a part of those who fight the wars and do the chores, use the descriptive, "we" --- we, kemosabe?
We know what work and suffering and honesty amount to, clown, it is the likes of your kind who are bereft of any knowledge or experience on this subject.
But, of course, you want everyone to do volunteer work, i.e., work for free.
Your comments simply don't rink true, unless you want to the joint for financial fraud, something quite common in your socioeconomic class, rube.
Note to self: Don't use "we" when posting on ZH.
http://jdrmetalart.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/and-so-we-begin/
yeah i wouldn't know what honest work is, not like any sweat went into building this by hand, nutsack. It's steel and having a trade is a beautiful thing. Not like your type would know anything about it. You just want to sit back in your computer chair wacking off to porn and eating junk food. And when you get bored of that, you get on here and smear your malicious excrement everywhere your deem necessary.
Guy was so busy going off on Americans he forgot about "irony." I thought it was pretty clear but people lose perspective on the internet.
no easy answers and it's likely not about to improve for the hundreds of thousands of Wendy's out there, but I am sure of one thing: With that generous offer made by BK his email in-basket is about to reach its quota.
Good effort Bruce.
Good luck Wendy.
very christian move Bruce....Lloyd Blankfein could learn something here....Oh, I forgot, he's not christian.
@ Chartist - ah yes, the christians
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXed3tvR_-g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrZcztxRquo&feature=related
In fact, I surmise he's sucking off Satan this moment.
Gosh Ben
I didn't think Satan would stoop so low....
I am getting peeved at all the bashing of unions, people on unemployment, etc. Keep in mind that I'm a pretty solid libertarian, so I tend not to be a big fan of large social safety nets or wealth redistribution. But the reason it peeves me is... well... people have such short memories.
Have people forgotten that less than two years ago we literally handed over OVER A TRILLION DOLLARS to the banking industry, a great deal of which ended up in the pockets of the very same people who caused or contributed to this crisis.
Folks, the real parasites are not the single moms on unemployment or the folks on welfare or the elderly or union pensioners. The real parasites are the ones who drive BMWs and have a multi-million dollar condo in Manhattan and a multi-million-dollar house in the Hamptons, all paid for by the American taxpayer or by free money from the fed.
Then you have the fact that a significant chunk of ordinary government spending goes to line the pockets of well connected contractors via no-bid contracts, war profiteering, graft, etc.
The right got a lot of mileage out of the term "welfare queens" for single moms on welfare. Let me suggest the term "welfare prince" for these guys.
So no, I'm not a big fan of wealth redistribution... but I'm even less of a fan of wealth redistribution to the already rich. The banksters and corrupt government contractors need to be at the top of everyone's shitlist here, not the struggling parents, the disabled, and the elderly.
Remember the fucking bailouts you people....
Have people forgotten that less than two years ago we literally handed over OVER A TRILLION DOLLARS to the banking industry, a great deal of which ended up in the pockets of the very same people who caused or contributed to this crisis.
Yes, they have forgotten. And its amazing how many entitlements people that are well off get that they feel they are entitled to such as the IRS deduction for interest on a home loan - thats supposedly capitalism. But give someone food so they dont starve and you're a commie bastard.
'Folks, the real parasites are not the single moms on unemployment or the folks on welfare or the elderly or union pensioners. The real parasites are the ones who drive BMWs and have a multi-million dollar condo in Manhattan and a multi-million-dollar house in the Hamptons, all paid for by the American taxpayer or by free money from the fed.'
Very well said.. I would only add that even if their ill-gotten gains doesn't come from tax money, it still come from the preditory system that allows them to scrape wealth from the labor of others.
"Have people forgotten that less than two years ago we literally handed over OVER A TRILLION DOLLARS.."
Actually, and this is mighty difficult for people like Brucie Goosie to comprehend, but it's more like $13 trillion to $17 trillion when all those free-money funds are included.
And with the "financial reform" sham, it's really simply an endless stream.....
Yup and I've seen estimates as high as $23T, if you included the not quite free, but very low interest funds that can be revolved in perpetuity. The thing that cracks me up, is no one can put an exact number on these monies. Why do you supposed that is? : )
I go to sleep at night scared that people like Wendy vote.
Rag,
Not to belittle Wendy, but I wonder HOW did she vote in '08?.
Also, as a teacher, where is the NEA?.I am sure she's a member.Welfare, foodstamps, Government housing, are all available.(which are a last resort).
But, I agree a relocate is in order.................sell everything except what you need, and catch a bus to to Texas.Before you come send out resumes to several schools in the North Texas area.With two kiddo's to care for, a hand up is definitely in order...........
With your skills, and degree, I can see you hired for a job in less than 30 days.
Bruce, Class act brother..................putting feet on your faith is true faith.
Her vote was irrelevant. There is no left or right. There is only the illusion that it makes a difference to keep us divided and from focusing on the fact that the middle class, and lower class, are being raped and pillaged by the bankers and bailouts.
Very generous of you Bruce. I think you need to send it throughout the Ohio school system and move it further west to Indiana as well. They are in much better shape relative to Ohio. But she may have family support that she cannot leave.
One other option Bruce is that a Special Ed PHD only takes a year/year and a half at most(as long as she has a thesis thought out and ready to go) after her masters. Special Ed PHD's are almost guaranteed a job and in high demand. I know this because a friend of mine just got her masters and found that the doctorate was the only way to go. Perhaps your dollars would be better spent on fundraising to help her to get her doctorate. Put it up to some friends--she would need living expenses. But she could fund much of her doctorate through the university working with undergrads.
The main thing would be support for her home and her kids. If you could get 8 other people to match your $3000, she could get by on that for a year and afford daycare and laundry detergent. Many serious universities even let you do much of the work online. Think about it. Change one person's life and it saves more lives than you know.
As always. thank you so much for your work.
As for the ridiculous replies on top of this thread that took a compassionate story and turned it into a H-1 Visa story, we need a moderator to stop this infighting irrelavent to the heart of the post.
For instance, my 22 year old niece has her engineering degree and is in high demand already--working this summer as an intern and was already offered a very nice 80K+ job. But she is going on for her masters. No problems at all getting a job in that field for well educated people in engineering of caucasion background. Same for nursing and all the other listed vocations that are being "stolen" by immigrants. Perhaps it depends on where you live but I have not seen this as a problem in upstate NY in any way and I know doctors, nurses, teachers, etc. that are all employed.
Indeed. Not to mention the destruction of at least $26 trillion in world wealth with their derivatives death star ponzi scheme that continues to this day.
Thank you!
Thanks for the timely reminder, Hulk.
Like all New Yorker magazine cartoons, any ZH blogger can improve with the caption: "Christ, what an asshole!"
See the cartoon, Bruce. Be the cartoon!
Wendy needs to get her girls on a greyhound and start heading south on I-71 ASAP. Cleveland is a death trap at this point!
Look, people are going to have to learn how to do without the things they think is part of everyday life. How many in this world are privileged enough to even have a washing machine to worry about putting detergent in??? What would be most beneficial is teaching people HOW TO SURVIVE. Stop spending your unemployment check on things that aren't absolutely critical to your survival.
Best thing could happen to Wendy, and you'll never learn this no matter how many degrees you have, is to stop letting fear run your life. Stop letting the uncertainty turn you into a deer in headlights. Start to think creatively. Turn the air conditioner off, the cable off, conserve water, wear your clothes 3 times before you wash them, do the dishes by hand, stop making trips to the store 4 times a week...this is the new reality. I really wish Wendy the best. We are all going to learn how to do more with less. The wife and I, we keep our bills below $1000/mo, that's food, rent, everything. We own one vehicle and we make do with it. LLearning to live far below your means is not a bad thing, living above them is.
Wendy, my heart goes out to you. I know you will come out of this for the better and your daughters will learn to appreciate every bite of food that comes across their plates! You can get a head start on this now or you can continue to hold out hope for an opportunity to come around the corner. I suggest a lot of prayer and soul searching. Let this make you a thriver, not a survivor. I'm in Columbus and I'll keep my eyes and ears open, hopefully I can come up with something but honestly, I'm just not seeing it, it's just going to progressively get worse. I'm not going to say how bad, but probably beyond my comprehension.
Is there any way for those of you who don't know shit, can find something different to denigrate 8.5 million people other than a imagined addiction to cable tv and leave that BS in whatever shit hole you found it? It keeps coming up when ever the subject of broke , out-of-work, down-on their-luck Americans can't find a job. Can anyone here live on $1000 a month doing just the basics or how about $800. Now throw some kids in there. Now take all the money away . WTF does cable have to do with it? That was disconnected voluntarily or by choice two years ago. It's this portrait you assholes want to paint of lazy Americans who should get used to working for less than minimum wage in a society where less than minimum wage is not a livable wage no matter which landfill you pitch your tent.
Just because there is some asshole waiting to expand his business on the back of cheap homegrown labor doesn't mean there is steady work out there. . If his cost structure is so tight that he is dependent on cheap home grown labor we can expect his bankruptcy filing anytime the needle moves north on wages.
That means if they take the job, their next round of unemployment benefits will be less than it takes to feed a dog for a week.
Not one of you can say for certain what percentage of people keep their cable or other luxuries. You may have heard it in the news with the headline "Fwd: Pass this out to everyone you know". Let me assure you , the cable companies and satellite TV companies are not offering 50-60% off their regular prices because they are generous kind people. It's because no one will pay for cable.
For those of you who say "disconnect the internet". You mean the $20.00 a month most people without means pay so they are jacked in to the world of networking and finding leads for work? That Internet?
Hint, if 1000 people are standing in line for 5 jobs, Wendy is not getting that job. She may be away from her phone because she ditched her cell phone when a call comes in and says , "I can take you if you can start today at 3:00pm. Someone died." Not likely, but far more likely than one person getting a job that 1000 people applied for or 10 people applied for.
I see a general reluctance to discuss the 140 billion taken last year in bonuses off the backs of most of these people who paid taxes in 2008 and left them bleed at the side of the road after they made Exxon 45 Billion and bailed out Citibank for 45 billion all in one year. Save the moralizing. Instead start thinking of innovative things.
Lets say one 52 week extension of unemployment in one lump sum provided you lump it in with your choice of 6 others in a similar boat with a retired exec and a MIT grad with a huge debt that helps them start a new business. If you won't do that then you can go to social services.
Maybe this one won't be for everyone, but if 20% do it, then chances are there will be jobs. There is no limit to how many people can join their 20G or so up. So if 25 do it and they have 500G in equity capital, they get a listing on a website for Americans who no longer want to invest in stocks and bonds and options and would rather take 1-2% of their portfolio and take 20% of the new company. Lets have a bidding process for the better ideas. Don't leave it to VC assholes whose first question is , "have you outsourced all this yet?".
This may be a good idea or a bad idea, but it's definitely better than lecturing Wendy on her imagined addiction to Cable TV and categorizing 8.5 million people as lazy bums who are too spoiled to pick fruit.
OK I'll play along. I"ll say up front that I agree with most of your rant. Twenty-five years ago I drew unemployment for six months. I was pissed off at first about the lay-off but when I started getting those checks I made up my mind I was going to draw every penny I could. But I was told that 26 weeks would be it. During that time I developed a plan. I found out that I was eligible for student loans because I was a "dislocated" worker. When the checks ran out I went back to college in a different field and have been working ever since. The point is that Wendy has had 99 weeks to get a plan. Does she have a plan? No. Is she lazy? No. Just clueless.
I congratulateyou on your foresight. I never had a unemployment check since Ive been self employed since age 25 and started my business in the midst of the last great recession of 80-82. Now that we have broken our arms patting ourselves on the back, lets get back to Wendy.
Coincidentally enough, I started my business in Cleveland. At that time the the smaller cities around Cleveland were suffering from 22-25% unemployment. No shit, some of the cities looked like ghost towns. I was waiting for Cacti to blow across the street. The businesses that survived didn't do it by working 3x as hard or coming up with brilliant marketing campaigns, they just outlasted their competitors who were dropping like flies. Desperation had hit. On one morning before I went to see a customer, I picked up the Plain Dealer and Whow, the customer was on the front page with his two sons. They had been shot to death in a daylight robbery.
After it's all said and done, and you have a 44 magnum at the time since Dirty Harry was still popular, Cleveland is good town though.
It has 135 Nationalities and ethnic groups. I felt comfortable there after a short time. People from different backgrounds got along well be there was a sense of "we are all in this together". Families and family roots were incredibly important. Faith in the unions, although wildly misplaced, was an article of near religion there.
You just don't pop on a bus and leave if you have spent your whole life there. You have family that goes back generations. After all who but a few nuts like me and corporate fuck-ups actually move to Cleveland.
The Lebron James story was despicable in every way. I felt it a little deeper. The Cleveland fans were desperate for any kind of win because that's what took their minds off their troubles. I recall walking into a Music Store after John Lennon got shot and Yoko Ono had called for 10 minutes of national silence.
There wasn't a sound in the store, yet they were cheering wildly, but silently because their Cleveland Browns had made it into the plays-off as a wild card and had just scored. It was funny at the time. It also made me think how much people in Cleveland are suffering right nowand how important it was to have something , anything to take their minds of their troubles.
You can't buy the kinds of friendships that I made there nor the deep family ties nor their faith in religion and their Unions. Wendy packing up and leaving with two kids is unthinkable. It's like cutting down a redwood and sending it to Mexico.
She will probably be supported by friends and family. That's just the way things are done up there. Bu the people in Cleveland do have a sense of pride. I'm sure she loathed collecting unemployment but it's far better than asking for help from her close friends for fear of losing them. . That's the mentality I ran into while I was there. I doubt it's changed much in 28 years. Moving , unless young and free, is simply not an option, not with the grandchildren and the nieces and nephews of her extended family.
It helps to see things how they are and not how people here think they should be. It also helps to have experience in the hard times with 16 hour days not to make more money as the top trader, but just to survive. There is a whole different kind of stress that most here, I'll bet , have never really experienced.
The Lebron James story was despicable in every way. I felt it a little deeper. The Cleveland fans were desperate for any kind of win because that's what took their minds off their troubles. I recall walking into a Music Store after John Lennon got shot and Yoko Ono had called for 10 minutes of national silence.
Well, they take their sports that much more seriously over there.
Art Modell(of Browns infamy) knows that and will not step into Cleveland out of fear. He already knows he is unwelcome in that city, much less anywhere in Ohio with any significant amount of Browns fans. He steps into the city by mistake, it won't matter how much security he has.
Lebron James is headed down that path, and forgot about how serious sports is in Cleveland.
Wendy needs to get her girls on a greyhound and start heading south on I-71 ASAP. Cleveland is a death trap at this point!
Impossible to do when one is broke. I agree with you on the fear, much easier said than done though.
great article Bruce, let us know if you want donations for Wendy
Tickets aren't that expensive. All it would take is an unemployment check or two, goddamnit bite your pride in the ass. She can't substitute teach? My wife is a full time substitute because they aren't hiring here and I'm 2 1/2 hours south of Wendy. There are plenty of options, better get a head start and use them now before those evaporate (they will soon enough).
"There are plenty of options,..."
That's right, dickweed, we live in America, land of endless options, which has no economy, no media and is nothing more than a colossal criminal enterprise.
This clown posting is nothing more than the typical private equity douchey whose LBOs have ruined America.
Moving expenses JD ? First, last months rent, security deposit....on a bad credit rating?
I realize, as Noah has stated, that more than a few of these folks have gotten themselves into this mess, but now they are absolutely trapped. Being a teacher also implies she has no real world job market survival skills. We are going to see a lot of laid off government workers in the same mess, with no real job experience and unable to swim with the sharks. I have no answers at this point, but I have always felt that we should make all teachers and government workers work in the private sector for ten years before taking a public sector job...Those with just public sector experience are essentially useless in the real world.
Oh I totally agree with you Hulk. There are NO easy answers, you've got that right. There really is no hope for her or the hundreds of thousands in her shoes. The MSM sure as hell hasn't been telling the truth and in fact WE ARENT EVEN IN A RECESSION ANYMORE! So the general population thinks it's 6 mo's to a year or two of funemployment and then we'll be right back in the swing of things.
You ask me, the people at the top want us all to hurt...bad.