How this recession made us whole

April 10, 9:25 PMDC Corporate Ethics ExaminerJim Cunningham

Previous Next

1 comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the DC Corporate Ethics Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

All my life, I’ve always tried to learn a just a little bit about each of the people I met. In the past (and by this I mean a year ago or longer), I’ve noticed an even mix of people who were content doing what they’re doing, and those who considered themselves to be somewhere along an upward curve – those who had aspirations – those who knew they’d be something better, and saw themselves well on their way, moving in the right direction. Seldom did I meet someone who was stuck, felt they were doing less than they were able, and saw no way to move forward. Rarely did I meet someone who was underworked, underappreciated or underpaid and content at being so.

Over the last seven months or so, since I moved to Washington and since the economy tanked, my encounters with people have been much different. Now, almost always, when I ask people about themselves, what they do, and what they hope to do, they answer with stories of resignation. Not resigning from their jobs, but resigning from their hopes and aspirations. They tell me about what little they’re doing now, how it’s all they can do, now, and that they’re grateful to just be doing it. Some are paying the bills. Some are not.

I know. I, myself, am among them. Examiner.com doesn’t pay my bills. I have a rather-humble “day job” and I’m grateful to have it. I, too, hoped for something better when I moved to Washington, but here I am, paying the bills in whatever way I can in this economy until I can find something better.

Strangely, as I met all these people over the last six months, and heard their stories, none have lied or shied away from frankly telling me the stark reality of their situations or, while telling me their stories, even shown any embarrassment.

Embarrassment. Somehow, this emotion seems to have disappeared along with America’s economy.

I remember those pretentious times, before, when career status, job title, and “upward mobility” used to mean everything and be part of a person’s identity. People used to LOVE going to their high school reunions to show everyone how successful they’d become. They’d call old friends to “catch up”, but only if they had an important-sounding job title to share. And don’t forget about those all-important business cards! How hard people lobbied their bosses for fancy-sounding titles so they’d get important-looking business cards to pass out to strangers at parties. And if you met a serious bump in the road? If you suddenly found yourself unemployed and working behind the counter at a bookstore, or serving pancakes at some restaurant? Gosh, that was OK just as long as someone you knew didn’t see you. What if an ex-girlfriend saw you serving grits at the Waffle House? Oh, my! You could just die!

We live in a different world now. These things, apparently, aren’t embarrassing anymore.

I know a brilliant man in his mid-twenties who has a Masters degree in business. (Let’s call him Martin.) Martin works a horrible retail job and hates his boss so much that he vents on his Facebook page about it nearly every day so he doesn’t have to actually beat him up. Martin would love to quit his job, but he can’t. Martin is working on his PHD, and is grateful to just be employed so he can pay his bills. Martin is perfectly qualified to work as a manager in the Human Resources Department of any business in the city, but there are no jobs to be had. When I talk to Martin about his situation, he just smiles. “I take it day-by-day”, he says. “When I leave here at night, I don’t think about it until I walk in the door the next day.” Martin wasn’t embarrassed to tell me he had great dreams before but, for now, he’s here. “Until the economy recovers and I can get it going again.”

I know a, young, flaming homosexual named Robert. (Another alias.) Robert has very strong political, religious and philosophical opinions that he unloaded on me all at once as soon as I expressed the slightest interest in his story. Robert is a champion of human rights and would give anything to spend his life fighting to make sure the children of the future have all the rights that gay adults currently don’t have. He honestly doesn’t believe he could ever make a career out of this and still pay the bills at the same time. So, instead, Robert works for a major corporation because he knows that, as long as he does a good job, a big corporation like this would get in big trouble if they ever tried to discriminate against him. He knows he can keep working for the company, and volunteer in his free time. It’s the best he can do, and he’s not ashamed to say so.

I know a guy who writes about labor issues for websites and hosts a small talk radio show. (Let’s call him Reginald.) Reginald has given up on finding any “job” at all. He pieces together a life of a little writing here, a little writing there, a radio appearance here, a TV appearance there. Reginald was fired twice for attempting to form a union to combat employers who treated people poorly. Now, Reginald has given up on being employed by any company at all. He’s a humble soul. This piece-meal work is the best he can do right now. He can’t afford a cell phone, or a car. He’ll probably never afford to retire. If you ask him, he’ll proudly tell you, without embarrassment, he’s making a living “piecing together some things.” He’s content and happy making it work as best he can.

I quit a well-paying corporate job in Denver to move to Washington to find “something meaningful and altruistic” to do with my life. As soon as I arrived, the economy tanked and, in addition to this website writing gig, I took the first job I could get. (I’m grateful to have both.) I recently met an Ex-girlfriend on Facebook and wasn’t at all ashamed to tell her about my life situation and my day job. She didn’t judge me in the least.

Out of all of this I’m getting a “We’re all in this together” vibe.

It used to be a competition. It used to be, “Ha-ha, look how important I am!” and “Look how well I’m doing!”

Now, it’s “Hey, I’m OK. I’m getting by for now. It’s a tough world out there all over. How are you doing?”

But what of all those unused skills out there in all those people who are working jobs that are beneath them? And what about all that talent that’s just being wasted and unexercised while people perform meaningless jobs just to pay the bills?  But what about all those dreams and ambitions? Will they fizzle out? Will these people eventually forget those dreams and ambitions and simply be absorbed by whatever it is they’re doing “just to pay the bills” and give up on what they hoped to be?

I don’t think so.

The reason is this: In all of this, there is one thing steadily rising that is more powerful than the oppression caused by meaningless McJobs. The thing I speak of is values. Real values - the values that were lost when success and greed and consumerism ruled the day. This experience is teaching us something, and the thing we’re being taught will outlast the oppressive nature of whatever it was we did “just to get by”.

This collective condition we’re all experiencing is teaching us to be more than workers, employees, producers, consumers, buyers, and users. It’s reminding us to be what we truly are. Human beings.

Now, I see compassion. When people see the poor they wonder how close they were, themselves. When people see the sick, they wonder what they would have done, now that they don’t have health insurance.

Now, I see people expressing concern and empathy for each other. Empathy. Empathy instead of pretentiousness. That’s a big step for human nature.

Now, I see a little bit of humility in every one I speak to. Humility. Humility instead of pride. That is also quite a large lesson for all of us.

When we come out of this, the word will be “Whew!” and, I have no doubt – people will remember what they learned before they said, “Whew!” themselves.

This situation we all are in is certainly sapping people’s dreams and ambitions. Those will come back. And when they do, they will be strengthened by the values of compassion, empathy, humility and humanness that we’ve all relearned and embraced again along the way.

And when we all find success again in the future, I hope we can all be kind and generous and humble and not forget the lessons we learned too quickly.