Is it Depression 2.0 yet? Ask 700 people who applied for one janitor’s job

Posted on March 10, 2009 by Uppity Woman

The results are in but the politicians  are humming loudly with their fingers in their ears as usual. Americans were sure we were in a recession for at least six months before any politician or MSN talking head had the cajones to come out and say it.

th_oliver2We played the Recession Game, now we will play the Depression Game. The two games are basically the same. Wide Eyed and Innocent -Looking  Elected officials and MSM Political Party Pimps dance around the word and keep asking silly questions like:

“Are we nearing a /Recession/Depression”?

or

“Can we avoid a Recession/Depression?”

Then the pseudo experts are invited to talk about the Numbers. You know about the Numbers, right? The Numbers say we are not There Yet. The Numbers say we have to do such and such for X number of quarters first, while Americans are already at their wits’ end.

Hang the numbers. Hang the talking heads and Hang the phony experts that look 12 years old and don’t know Jack Shit except how to double-talk and try to look smart.

Now we have the definitive answer to the question:  We are in a Depression. The others just haven’t caught up to the realization yet. They are generally too comfortable to understand that there is a simple test out in the Real World,  if they cared to notice.

How do you know you are in a Depression?

You know you are in a Depression when nearly 700 people apply for one janitor’s position,  hoping to “Get Lucky”.

Evidence of the slumping economy is stacking up at an Ohio school which has nearly 700 applications for one open janitorial job.

Officials at Perry Local Schools near Canton in northeast Ohio say they’ve extended the deadline until Monday to accommodate the overwhelming response to the week-old posting.

The full-time position at Edison Junior High School pays $15 to $16 an hour plus benefits.

Superintendent John Richard says many applicants are laid-off workers with heart-wrenching stories about the tough economic times.

Forty-nine-year-old Donna Croston says she applied after losing jobs at two nearby factories that closed.

Croston says her chances of being hired amid the hundreds of applicants are slim, but she’s hoping to get lucky.

Any questions?

And there’s one more way to know. You know when the Number One Search Topic that leads new people to your blog looks like this:

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Filed under: Depression, Economy, Jobs, Looking Out For Yourself |

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43 Responses

  1. imustprotest, on March 10, 2009 at 8:49 AM said:

    Well, as per my new mug, 🙂 I’m going to “Refuse to Participate” in Depression 2.0.

  2. Grail Guardian, on March 10, 2009 at 9:13 AM said:

    imust,

    That’s the spirit! The reality check is this: if we refuse to accept the lifestyle (such that it is) that the media and TPTB (the powers that be) have forced down our throats, we can survive!

    Who needs digital anything when it gets right down to it? America needs to get back to the basics, and those of us that do will survive quite nicely, thank you.

    Perhaps we need to start getting back to the bartering system (I’ll fix this for you if you let me grow vegetables on your land.) It’s time to Just Say No!

  3. gagirl, on March 10, 2009 at 9:43 AM said:

    Amen, Uppity. Some of our clients stopped paying their bills a year and a half ago. We had to downsize a little over a year ago. When “recession” became a catch phrase, especially last summer, we were already in conservation mode. I think we are going to make it, but we still have a lot to make up from last year.

    So, watching congress give themselves extra funds to spend out of tax dollars I am having a hard time parting with really gets under my skin. I want them all fired and forced to go back to real work.

  4. Pat Johnson, on March 10, 2009 at 10:41 AM said:

    I have been rereading “The Grapes of Wrath” by Steinbeck. Considering that the book is about 70 years old, it is amazing how timely it is in comparison to some of the same issues we are facing today.

    Like “1984”, this book never fails to impress.

  5. islander, on March 10, 2009 at 12:40 PM said:

    I think Helen Thomas was, if not the first, then one of the very first, to label this mess a DEPRESSION … last November.
    h t t p://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/389882_helenonline29.html

  6. adagioforstrings, on March 10, 2009 at 2:52 PM said:

    A good critique of Obama’s porkopulus bill:

    In other realms of life, exploiting a crisis for your own purposes is an outrage. If a business uses a hurricane warning, for example, to price-gouge on vital supplies, it is a crime. When a liberal administration does it, it’s taking advantage of a historic opportunity.

  7. Anne, on March 10, 2009 at 4:11 PM said:

    Last year my company cut our hours during the slow time (Jan – mid-Mar), and hired us all back full-time. This year was the same, but at this time last year we had started to get busy again. It’s been so slow at work, I don’t know if they’ll be able to hire us all back full time. We sell construction supplies, and the customers who do come in are nervous – they’ve never seen it like this.

  8. Palin4Prez, on March 10, 2009 at 5:59 PM said:

    Actually, all recessions are depressions. The term recession was invented after the Great Depression to differentiate those down cycles. For the most part, it’s about severity.

    I don’t believe in this Depression 2.0 stuff because we have a number of things different now.

    FDIC – the Treasury will start loaning the FDIC money to avoid a run on the banks.
    Social Security – the poorest people (and some fo the rich ones) will continue to draw an income.
    Welfare – people will continue to get money to buy cookies and steak while working people get peanut butter and top ramen.
    The explosion in the government workforce – government employees will be the last to go. They already got their government mandated COLAs.

    My concern is debt, inflation, stagnation and wars over money.

  9. yttik, on March 10, 2009 at 6:05 PM said:

    I can’t afford Depression 2.0. Someday I’m going to have to upgrade, but in the meantime it’s duct tape and super glue.

  10. foxyladi14, on March 10, 2009 at 6:10 PM said:

    it.s a recession when your neighbor loses their job.it,s a depression when you lose yours..

  11. Palin4Prez, on March 10, 2009 at 6:28 PM said:

    Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die. – Mel Brooks

  12. Grail Guardian, on March 10, 2009 at 6:48 PM said:

    Obviously the current administration are Mel Brooks fans. I’m sure farting contests are a regular West Wing event these days…

  13. Palin4Prez, on March 10, 2009 at 6:50 PM said:

    There’s a black sheriff in town.

  14. deadenders, on March 10, 2009 at 7:13 PM said:

    As Nelson would say HA HA!
    Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said Tuesday that President Obama’s budget plan doesn’t have enough support from lawmakers right now to win approval.
    Conrad said that he has spoken to enough colleagues with reservations about several different provisions in the budget that he thinks Congress won’t pass it, at least in its present form.

  15. socalannie, on March 10, 2009 at 7:18 PM said:

    At the school district where my husband works, they’ve laid off a lot of janitors, school nurses, etc. What is particularly baffling (and stupid, I think) is that they lay off the people “in the field” that are actually doing work that directly impacts the schools, yet they keep employed hordes of middle-management paper shufflers who main occupation seems to be creating new forms and unnecessary paperwork for the worker bees (like my husband) to have to fill out. I’m beginning to think there are no government entities that are run with a grain of common sense.

    By the way, I got my Uppity tee & hat today! They’re adorable! I’ve never ordered from Cafe Press before & I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the nice quality and packing of the items.

  16. tfitz, on March 10, 2009 at 7:27 PM said:

    Odd, the depression came up high in the search terms people used to reach my blog. Actually probably not, the word is in the year, even on Yahoo.

  17. Uppity Woman, on March 10, 2009 at 8:04 PM said:

    The searches to my blog were not the singular word “Depression”. They were searches for the 93 year old woman who does videos on depression era cooking, as in cheap cooking. This tells me they are looking for her and her recipes.

    They find my blog on that search because I did a piece on her here:
    https://uppitywoman08.wordpress.com/2009/02/25/meet-93-year-old-claire-who-teaches-depression-era-cooking-on-youtube/

    Love to see your blog though. Do you have a link?

  18. Uppity Woman, on March 10, 2009 at 8:09 PM said:

    What is particularly baffling (and stupid, I think) is that they lay off the people “in the field” that are actually doing work that directly impacts the schools, yet they keep employed hordes of middle-management paper shufflers who main occupation seems to be creating new forms and unnecessary paperwork for the

    No mystery here. School districts across the nation have become heirarchies similar to the ’70s corporate America. Most of the employees have nothing whatsoever to do with education. Many of them are relatives and friends of school board members. The whole thing is a giant black hole where tons of money goes in and nothing comes out. You will find these same schools are short on teachers and text books.

  19. Ferd Berfle, on March 10, 2009 at 8:28 PM said:

    “Most of the employees have nothing whatsoever to do with education. Many of them are relatives and friends of school board members. ”

    And the school-board members, at least in my area, know nothing about education, have never been an educator, and buy into all the new-fangled crocks of manure that pass as improved methods of teaching. Balderdash!

    I went to school in the early 60s into the 70s in Oklahoma and can still fishbone-diagram a sentence, complete with adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, and can spell like there is no tomorrow. I am also a scientist who reviews documents for clarity and validates mathematically- and analytically-challenging environmental laboratory data for potential court cases under CERCLA.

    If this country doesn’t go back to the basics, we’re screwed. Each thing learned builds upon the next thing to be learned. Logic, mathematics, chemistry, biology, history, a foreign language or two, and geography are the minimum requisite requirements for a well-rounded education. The rest is fluff and does not tend to edification-get that stuff in your spare time. One of the reasons we are so screwed now is because the great majority of the electorate doesn’t know the first thing about any of the subjects I just mentioned.

    Yes, Virginia, the earth does revolve around the sun and there are only 50 states, after all.

    Ferd

  20. LesbianNeoCon, on March 10, 2009 at 8:56 PM said:

    When will people wake up and figure out that, when democrats are in charge, economies TANK???? Can’t keep blaming Bush for this one, sorry. Though, he did spend like a drunk leftist at times, this is Obama’s and the democrat congress’ baby, all the way. And shame on us for letting it happen. Get them out in ’10 and ’12. PLEASE!!!

  21. JustMe, on March 10, 2009 at 9:11 PM said:

    Most of the employees have nothing whatsoever to do with education. Many of them are relatives and friends of school board members.

    So true it’s not what you know but who you know sometimes and surprises me how these people get that cushy job… guess I never got on as my family is far and wide. better move some in!

  22. deadenders, on March 10, 2009 at 10:12 PM said:

    Hey Mary! GO OFF ON THIS!
    Ramallah, West Bank — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has announced a new million-dollar scholarship program to help Palestinian students enroll at Palestinian and American universities.

  23. lehigh389, on March 10, 2009 at 10:52 PM said:

    Ferd Berfle, on March 10th, 2009 at 8:28 PM
    ———————–
    I was just talking about diagraming sentences the other day. I still have a book from high school. Love those compound-complex diagrams.

  24. imustprotest, on March 10, 2009 at 10:55 PM said:

    I LOVED diagraming sentences! Really! Does that make me weird?

  25. thetownecrier, on March 10, 2009 at 11:17 PM said:

    Yikes! Diagramming sentences?!? You people are reaaaallly smart. How about fixing the faucet or the furnace? That is easier.

  26. yttik, on March 10, 2009 at 11:33 PM said:

    I’ll diagram sentences for you and you can come fix my faucet. Nothing wrong with it yet, but global warming is about to strike tonight and with any luck the pipes will freeze.

  27. thetownecrier, on March 10, 2009 at 11:34 PM said:

    Goody. we can barter services.

  28. Uppity Woman, on March 10, 2009 at 11:44 PM said:

    Ah I had to teach sentence diagraming in my first year of teaching. Then I moved up to high school. Kind of fun.

    AND I can fix a faucet. In fact, you name the tool, I have it. I always tended to hang out with men whose idea of fixing things was “Give me the yellow pages”. So i am pretty handy.

    Hey! I can sell literacy. Let’s face it, people who can put two words together are a rare commodity these days.

  29. Palin4Prez, on March 11, 2009 at 12:44 AM said:

    It’s kind of hard to sell literacy if people can’t read the advertising 😛

    In my job, I have to write and build things. Writing was something that came pretty organically to me. I usually have to be thrust in front of a mechanical thing in order to want to work on it. I didn’t even realize I had mechanical aptitude until I was required to build things in my various jobs.

    But I still take my car to the mechanic. I have terrible luck and it’s almost never the problem I think it is. We may need to fall back on our skills when we go to a barter system.

  30. thetownecrier, on March 11, 2009 at 2:44 AM said:

    UW. Can wield the mechanic’s tools as easily as the pen. Um, the computer these days.

  31. Eden, on March 11, 2009 at 5:42 AM said:

    Beauty of the internet is you can find out how to do about anything you want to do with complete instructions. I’ve learned to fix toliets, loose/tight windows, wall repairs, divd players that won’t spit out the dvd (okay, I just unscrewed the lid and put it in manually, that really shouldn’t count). This because I live with Mr. “:I’ll fix that this weekend.” This weekend never comes, kind of like tomorrow. Next up: fixing my dryer that quit tumbling. Has to just be a belt that I can probably get on eBay. I could pay for a repairman, I just don’t want to.

    I personally like the challenge of being frugal…have been that way for a few years now. It’s like a game. It keeps me from being on the window ledge after a trip to the grocery store. I just figure out how to eat on what is on sale and that is a win to me.

    But a recurring theme in my mind is “how do people who don’t cook their food from scratch, who have kids, do it?” I’d think stretching the dollar like a contortionist becomes less than fun in those cases, and darnn near impossible.

    I don’t think it’s all bad for people to revisit learning how to stick to the basics, but that is not really the American dream. We should be evolving, not imploding..

  32. tfitz, on March 11, 2009 at 8:07 AM said:

    Uppity,
    The link to the search terms postings refereced about – word depression, http://tfitz.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=8496

  33. Uppity Woman, on March 11, 2009 at 8:52 AM said:

    That’s your dashboard phoenix so I can’t get to it, but I surely believe you. You’re Phoenix! I’ve read you. Nice to meet you!

  34. Nick @ Drawnlines Blog, on March 11, 2009 at 10:34 AM said:

    Of course, it depends on who you ask. Our economy is co complex these days that you can use any figures you like to get the news you want to hear.

    But I do know that International Superstar Erin Burnett and Money Guru Jim Cramer say that we are in the worst economy (SINCE) 1929-1933. That’s gotta be worth something.

    Of course, that’s no reason to saddle our children’s children’s children with this massive debt they’ll never be able to pay off. Maybe we can inflate our way out of it? Who cares if the dollar is worth absolutely nothing?!

    It’s 1977 and Carter Jr. is taking us on a rollercoaster of Obamanomics that will be our undoing. Our only hope is to breathe, close our eyes, and wait for the light at the end of the tunnel – the coming of January 1981.

    It can’t come fast enough!

  35. vbonnaire, on March 11, 2009 at 4:47 PM said:

    Uppity — that is why I think you could really do that book!?

    just on those searches alone? I swear. I have a great cookbook by the poet Maya Angelou called The Welcome Table. The book consists of a story from some part of her life — covering all things — a teaching tale in a way –told as only she can in that voice of hers?

    And the recipes that were served.

    These cover the gamut of rich to poor, happiness and sadness – humor?

    You have so much innate “wisdom” — it’s like that? In your stuff —
    here it is for you to peruse at leisure:

    http://www.amazon.com/Hallelujah-Welcome-Table-Lifetime-Memories/dp/1400062896

    your pen, when you talk about yourself has a very warm and folksy wonderful quality — it reminds me a little of this book?

    I swear Upp. People do not know how to cook from scratch anymore.

    hugs you.

  36. FembotsForObama, on March 11, 2009 at 5:32 PM said:

    1/2 of our friends either lost their jobs or have reduced hours, so we’re definitely feeling it. Seems the only people with jobs work in collection agencies, education, and govt.

    Aside from jobs, I’m concerned about debt. We can barely afford anything and my college debts are out of control. ~urgh

  37. Uppity Woman, on March 11, 2009 at 6:08 PM said:

    Thanks Valentine. That felt VERY good. I needed that.

  38. Uppity Woman, on March 11, 2009 at 6:09 PM said:

    Whoa Fembots, I know a few others like you who are worried about paying of their college loans. It has to be scary.

  39. Uppity Woman, on March 11, 2009 at 6:11 PM said:

    and wait for the light at the end of the tunnel – the coming of January 1981.

    It can’t come fast enough!

    Wow. That really hit me.

  40. vbonnaire, on March 11, 2009 at 7:07 PM said:

    It’s true about your voice, Uppity.

    Your readers “get” you and that is why they “love” you.
    It’s your quality of being REAL!

    xxoo!

  41. tfitz, on March 12, 2009 at 8:00 AM said:

    Uppity,
    Sorry about the link, you can go to the blog, the posting for March 10. BTW, the term ‘depression’ is still showing up quite a bit as a search term for whatever that is worth.

  42. Uppity Woman, on March 12, 2009 at 8:09 AM said:

    Yup I just looked. I think it’s pretty safe to say that the word “Depression” is on people’s minds a lot.

  43. Uppity Woman, on March 12, 2009 at 8:12 AM said:

    I also notice a lot of searches on banks and “solvent”.

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