I know that's the family's job, but often we are the first or second family for students.
What are you doing to teach life skills? Post a comment.
"American Dream Deferred For Some Atlantans"
by Dan Chapman, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sunday, March 29, 2009
by Dan Chapman, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sunday, March 29, 2009
Here’s Wall
e Waters, the erstwhile embodiment of the American Dream.
Steelworker’s son. Military man. College grad. Salesman extraordinaire.
Husband to Debra. Faithful to Jesus. A suburban Everyman.
And victim of an economy that’s obliterating jobs, shredding the middle class and making a mockery of the work-hard, play-straight dictum that promised a comfortable retirement for a job well done.
Walle — rhymes with golly — lost his white-collar, frozen-food sales job in Michigan two years ago. No matter, he thought: Debra, a manager with a major Japanese company, had just been promoted. Next stop: Atlanta — the business capital of the New South.
Walle was certain he’d land another regional sales job. Debra’s salary would cover the mortgage on a five-bedroom dream house near Peachtree City.
Nearly two years later, Walle found a job. In Florida. At half his previous salary.
Debra remains in Atlanta. Until, at least, her job ends this summer.
“We used to be in the upper middle class. Now we’ll be in the lower middle class,” said Walle, 58. “Yogi Berra said it best: ‘The future isn’t what it used to be.’ The whole system is going the wrong way.”
This recession is unlike any other of recent vintage. Before, maybe thousands of factory jobs disappeared or the housing market tanked or banks went belly up. This time, seemingly no industry, or category of worker, is immune. Suffering has been democratized and fear is universal. And it’s only going to get worse.
Everybody knows a Walle. He’s the guy at Starbucks on a Tuesday morning with a laptop and time to kill. Or maybe he’s the older fellow behind the Publix deli counter who never gets your order wrong. Or the parishioner at church you don’t make eye contact with. Read the rest of the article here.
e Waters, the erstwhile embodiment of the American Dream.Steelworker’s son. Military man. College grad. Salesman extraordinaire.
Husband to Debra. Faithful to Jesus. A suburban Everyman.
And victim of an economy that’s obliterating jobs, shredding the middle class and making a mockery of the work-hard, play-straight dictum that promised a comfortable retirement for a job well done.
Walle — rhymes with golly — lost his white-collar, frozen-food sales job in Michigan two years ago. No matter, he thought: Debra, a manager with a major Japanese company, had just been promoted. Next stop: Atlanta — the business capital of the New South.
Walle was certain he’d land another regional sales job. Debra’s salary would cover the mortgage on a five-bedroom dream house near Peachtree City.
Nearly two years later, Walle found a job. In Florida. At half his previous salary.
Debra remains in Atlanta. Until, at least, her job ends this summer.
“We used to be in the upper middle class. Now we’ll be in the lower middle class,” said Walle, 58. “Yogi Berra said it best: ‘The future isn’t what it used to be.’ The whole system is going the wrong way.”
This recession is unlike any other of recent vintage. Before, maybe thousands of factory jobs disappeared or the housing market tanked or banks went belly up. This time, seemingly no industry, or category of worker, is immune. Suffering has been democratized and fear is universal. And it’s only going to get worse.
Everybody knows a Walle. He’s the guy at Starbucks on a Tuesday morning with a laptop and time to kill. Or maybe he’s the older fellow behind the Publix deli counter who never gets your order wrong. Or the parishioner at church you don’t make eye contact with. Read the rest of the article here.
No comments:
Post a Comment