Forget the old truism that the annual holiday letter lists the bragging rights of the previous year. Not with this year’s sour economy. Not with lay-offs, closings, downsizing and moving production out of the country. No, this year, a significant proportion of the annual missives came bearing news of lost jobs, forecasted closings and/or job cutbacks.
Some we knew about, others startled us with the totality of the loss.
First, it was a job lost right after signing a new mortgage. The monthly payment looked steep enough with the job – and impossible afterwards. Even though the area’s unemployment soars into double digits, the bank still expects mortgage payments.
Next, it was the soon to-be first-time parents – with a manageable house payment. Good-bye adequate job. Hello, car wash attendant job – until a better paying job comes along. No one registered the child at a baby boutique – luxury fades in the face of basic needs.
But, who would have thought the child’s grandparents would also be in a tight situation with cutbacks in hours for one and months of unemployment for the other. None of that mattered to the child who has great wealth that no amount of money can buy – a circle of adoring parents and grandparents showering their love and attention on her.
Although we had heard during a summer visit that our old neighbor in Indiana worked on borrowed time, we relished her tale about one last minute reprieve after another including a 30 percent cut in salary if she would stay on and answer phones. We left her home in June certain she would miraculously be given another extension after that. She was, but in September, she locked the door on the office where she had worked for 16 years and went to register at the unemployment office.
To stay home with her baby, my daughter supplements their family income by baby-sitting her nephew, along with another child or two. In the fall, she forewarned the two mothers she would need a maternity break in late April.
In December, her sister-in-law announced, “I have found a pre-school/day care, but I have to take the opening in January or he might not have a slot in April.” That same day, my daughter’s husband called to say that corporate office had decided to close down the local shop in the spring to save money. This only a couple weeks after he went on a luxurious, company sponsored trip to the NASCAR races in Dallas – a reward for having the highest rank in customer satisfaction nationwide. Customer opinions do not matter, bottom line does.
The next week, the other mother also found a day care for her child and the office manager announced that lay-offs would begin in January.
While bread winners surf Internet job sites, peruse the classifieds and network looking for jobs, the rest of us pray. One unemployed found hope because many prospective employers had said, “We won’t be hiring until after the holidays and the holidays are over.” Another finds hope that a second interview might lead to a final interview, but only time will tell the rest of the story. Meanwhile, we pray for our daily bread and wait for God to show us where to go pick it up in the wilderness of a fading economy.