> what happened to all the downsized folks?
Well, I've got my own idea about the downsized folks. I believe
Nick's statistics; I think that there are people who are working for a
lot less than they used to be. But I wonder how many of those folks are
parents who decided in the face of unemployment that, hey, one
paycheck'll be rough, but at least I get to stay home with the kids
while they're little. How many of them are people who decided to jump
ship (or were bumped overboard) and work at something creative for a
while. How many of them are people who decided that they didn't want to
work under exploitive conditions, so they're in an underemployed holding
pattern until they figure out something better to do, which they're
working on. How many of them are people who came to realize that the
pleasures of a good book are cheap enough for anybody to afford, and
better than lots of more expensive stuff.
I don't mean to romanticize poverty or itineracy or insecurity.
But I think buried in those statistics are the lives of people who look
like tragedy when they're painted with a broad brush, but who
individually have decided to take what fate dealt them and do something
positive about it.
Marcy
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Marcy Bauman
Writing Program
University of Michigan-Dearborn
4901 Evergreen Rd.
Dearborn, MI 48128
Web page: http://www.umd.umich.edu/~marcyb
email: marcyb@umd.umich.edu
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