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Recession Dispatch from…Baltimore
BALTIMORE—Richard Friedman wrote in the New York Times a few weeks ago that while it may take a few weeks for anti-depressants to start working, the “side effects, like sexual dysfunction, are often immediate.” Whether or not this is a metaphor for the stimulus package, it is a fact that many Baltimoreans, mostly suburban, mostly with their children in private schools, are suffering. They started swallowing Cymbalta, Effexor, and Celexa somewhere around Christmas and, two months into their visits to the Ruxton Pharmacy, the situation, both nationally and in Baltimore, couldn’t be worse.
Love in the Time of Layoff: Of Uncertain Times
Last week marked the two-month anniversary since my dear husband got the axe. A lot can happen in two months’ time. We canceled a family pilgrimage to Puerto Rico and put the apartment up for sale. Marco quit the gym. Our cat died. We both have gained some weight, but other than that, we’re actually doing okay. Fat but happy, I like to say, with a roof over our heads (for now). We’ve got our love to keep us warm.
The other day, Marco came home from a day of freelancing feeling blue. I tried the usual—kissing it away—but no go. “You don’t like it when I’m moody,” he said. “I’m going to be moody sometimes.”
Elvis Thrives
Yes, at times it does feel nerve-stretchingly like we’re on the brink of complete economic collapse. But not every industry is struggling in the recession. Hollywood is hopping. Wal-Mart is wowing.
Some more surprising businesses are thriving, too—or at least claim to be. If you’re seeking a growth industry in which to plant the seeds of your next career, it might be time to pull out that sequined jumpsuit. We know you have one.
Tattooing
According to artists at the Salt Lake City international tattoo convention in February, the downturn isn’t keeping people from spending on skin.
Out on the Street: The Real Credit Crisis
Each week, “Joe the Trader” chronicles his experiences with life after Wall Street.
While it was old news, I was still left speechless by the article a fellow member of the He-Man’s Unemployment club recently sent to me. In early January, Newsweek published “The Case for Walking Away,” in which the author suggests that 2009 is the year to file for personal bankruptcy.
Don’t wait until it’s too late, the article advises. Indeed, “the right time to file for bankruptcy is when you’re financially stuck but still have assets to protect.” It is truly a sign of the times when a major news magazine is actually advocating such a thing.
The word credit is derived from the Latin credo, “to believe.” If integrity goes who will believe anybody? The current situation is truly a crisis of credit.
What Wedding?
Last spring, quite a few people—from Kiplinger to the National Association of Catering Executives—were suggesting that weddings might be recession-proof. As with so many ideas in the early stages of the downturn, that proved to be wrong. Everyone is getting pummeled now, including couples, vendors and honeymoon locations.
What’s an engaged pair to do? DIY Bride offers some practical advice on how to recession-proof the big day.
And The Royal Plantation Collection and ABCNews.com are hosting an online contest for a free honeymoon. Send a video (by March 9) explaining how the economy has affected your plans, and you could receive a five-day, four-night trip.
Biological Clocks Don’t Stop for Recession
When Marco got laid off in January, friends who knew of our family-launching plans asked us whether we’d continue or put things on hold. I just turned 40. Marco is seven years older than me. Our biological clocks are not in sync with the dipping of the Dow.
Sure, it occurred to us for half a second that this might not be the wisest time to be spending my grandmother’s inheritance on fertility treatments not covered by health insurance, but it’s expensive to adopt, too. And we really, really want a child.
Love in the Time of Layoff: A Gentle Response to Joe the Trader
In his post this week, Joe the Trader chronicles a meeting of the He-Man’s Unemployment Club. Roberto is the one who dumps the lunch he brings from home. Joe complains about picking up the iron and recycling the trash. Their girlfriends and wives, they say, spend too much on soy lattes and artisanal cheeses. I do love Joe’s humor—and I truly hope the gecko survives the downturn.
Yet like that New York Times article Joe gripes about, in which a stay-at-home Wall Street wife considers divorcing her unemployed husband because he can no longer deliver coin, Joe falls back on some too-easy stereotypes himself.
Out on the Street: Gendernomics
Each week, “Joe the Trader” chronicles his experiences with life after Wall Street.
Okay, so I could have picked up the laundry, I could have dealt with the recycling piling up in the kitchen, I could have bought a tarp for the air conditioner so it doesn’t rust sitting outside on the porch. But I didn’t. That’s right: I chose not to do the three things my lady asked me to do. Time slipped away, I claimed, when she asked what the hell I’d done all day. Through repeated questioning, I maintained my innocence, highlighting all of the “important” networking calls I had made. But between us, dear reader, the truth is I was in my giraffe boxer shorts most of the day talking to my “important” contacts about my upcoming ski trip. And what did my lady do all day? You guessed it: She went to work.
Love in the Time of Layoff: Helicopter Spouse
Earlier this week I received a comment that both touched and saddened me. Writes nelson46, in response to my
recent posts on standing by my jobless man:
“Is my wife’s need to exclaim disdain (never ending) so immature?”
I looked up “disdain” in the dictionary and found this: “extreme contempt or disgust for something or somebody,” “to regard something or somebody as not worthy of respect.”
I feel…
Cookin’ for Love: Satisfaction Stew
You’ve been stripped of your big office, fat title, hot assistant and, most important, your paycheck. But being emasculated on the job doesn’t mean you can’t satisfy your significant other at home—with food.
On the Home Depot scale, cooking something impressive and tasty falls somewhere in between changing a light bulb and installing a new shower head—that is, pretty simple. Some quick rules for the new house husband, and a 20-minute recipe:
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