What’s going on??

age discrimination, America, American Jobs, Baby Boomers, Current Events, Opinion, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to spend any time with my WP family. I have missed your posts and writing my own, as well. So much has been happening in the world of late, honestly more than I can keep up with some days.

The Supreme Court has been quite busy. I must admit, I am happy with much of what they have done. What other people do in their own lives that doesn’t affect me shouldn’t be any of my concern, or anyone else’s. Same-sex marriage, the Affordable Care Act, and abortion rights in Texas, among others, were all championed by the justice system and reasonable thinking.

Don’t get me wrong, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) needs some work, especially in the states that refused to assist its citizens by setting up a state marketplace. But, by and large, it was the right thing to do.  When I heard Ted Cruz signed his family up, I thought had you supported a state exchange in Texas, the prices would’ve been more reasonable – but Ted was against the ACA, vehemently if I remember correctly. Is that irony?

There’s been all kinds of racial incidents with the police. I was truly shocked and saddened by the church shooting in South Carolina.  The victims families handled it with such grace and dignity, from what I saw, though I have truly tried to limit my intake of the news lately.

Then there’s the escaped convict incident – I was surprised when someone said to me, regarding the first escaped convict’s shooting death, “I hope he had a gun, you know since he was white and all.“ (Not touching this one . . .) I can say so much, but just can’t right now. He WAS an escaped convict and he did have a shotgun.

I keep hearing all over the place that jobs are up and unemployment is down. I can’t help but ask myself, “Where the hell are they getting these numbers? Where are they looking?”  My husband is still unemployed, as are many others I know that are in my age group. And that’s just in my neck of the woods and what I hear from my contacts nationwide. I was working part-time, but my little part-time gig is about to come to a close in two weeks – no money coming in.

My daughter gave me a Starbucks gift card for Mother’s Day and I had one more coffee left on it and stopped in at my fav Starbucks, which is inside my grocery store, so I see the baristas frequently. The lady working that day is about my age and got laid off from her good job a year and a half ago. While we were chatting, she shared that they hired a new lady last week who’s real nice, has a Ph.D., but got laid off from a government contractor over a year ago and this is the only place she could get hired. She, of course, is in my age group, and is now making $7.56 an hour.

Does anyone realize what’s happening here . . . the age discrimination, much of it involving insurance coverage. The insurance companies HEAVILY influence hiring decisions, it’s not just the employers. I think we would be amazed at just what all the insurance companies have influence over!

Our age group has a huge effect on the economy with our traditional buying power. But many of us are living on our retirement savings 10-15 years before we are supposed to, and paying a penalty for it, though it is against our will and our better judgment – it’s done out of survival. Many were expecting to make up for lost years over the next decade and have nothing left to fall back on.

When cars are repossessed and houses are foreclosed on, and this group is now reduced to government aid to survive – more people now on what is often referred to as government “socialism” – this country’s backbone is going to begin to start to crack, splinter, and break.  And if these 50+ year-olds are unfortunate enough to not be able to afford COBRA or the ACA, many will fall into the category where they don’t fall into the age group that can get Medicaid or Medicare. People in this situation and age group are SOL and better hope/pray that nothing serious happens, or they could be most majorly screwed . . .

Though I will admit, I have not done my homework regarding the actual statistics; I can’t help but believe this is the one of the first times in history where fifty-plus-year-olds have been singled out to be extinguished from the workplace. (If I am wrong, please educate me!) If this trend continues, I see some serious hurt for the future of this country – I’m not an economist, but common sense and history tells the story that what may come is unprecedented and could be catastrophic.

ON A PERSONAL NOTE: Regarding my gig . . . well my instincts proved to be correct. Definitely too good to be true.  The guy I was working for isn’t too motivated, canceling every training session we had scheduled for really lame reasons like, “It’s been a rough day, I worked setting up your email, and I need a drink, so I’m outta here.” Or early one Saturday morning, “Sorry I cut out, my neighbor needed help and I said I would, not sure why ‘cause I’m usually not that neighborly.” You know that kind of stupid shit.

When it came to him selling policies to the appointments I made on these mostly 2-8 year-old leads, he canceled and we rescheduled a few for reasons that were not important. I had a list of about 35 people I had talked to that he needed to speak with for various reasons – high risk, specific questions not related to exact cost but involving health issues, etc. He finally got appointed to sell the high-risk policies he found were best and last Saturday he told me he was calling them all. When I showed up, he said he couldn’t call them because he had set up the online account to access what he needed to quote them prices, but forgot the password and wouldn’t be able to get it on a Saturday. Seriously . . .

Then when he told me a few days later he couldn’t afford to pay me any longer, but if I wanted I could still make calls and he would give me my commission – but he couldn’t afford to pay me for calling.Then he had the nerve to tell me that now he was really going to have to hustle and start working his book business. I’m thinking, dude, why haven’t you been doing that all along.

Long Term Care coverage is his specialty, but it is not cheap, typically. I’m working leads that are years old, and he had me listen to training tapes that were on cassettes and 20 years old – what does that tell you. During our discussion I reminded him that things have changed in the last 20 years – people don’t think the same, communicate the same, research purchases and purchase the same, and marketing and sales have changed considerably. Yeah, he didn’t want hear that – he’s four years younger than me and living in a bubble of some sort.

Anyway, now I have two avenues to explore – my established career, and my new inexperienced career. Maybe one of them will get me somewhere. It’s been two years – I need a break . . . a real one. I don’t consider any of this wasted time, as I have now learned many new things and have earned licenses and certifications in new areas.

Oh, and the fig tree is a monster producer. I have canned over 50 jars so far of various fig jams and preserves. It was fun and I think I have another two weeks or more. My kitchen is covered in figs in various stages of ripeness and jars everywhere – and I am growing weary!

Oh!! And what about that Bill Cosby – TV’s All American Dad and his fondness for Quaaludes, among other things?? Wow, so TV and real live aren’t the same?? (YES, I am laughing at that fucking piece of irony in the midst of all else . . .)

Anyway, just some things I was thinking about . . . (and my mind still reels, but this post is already wayyyy too long . . . but got something else coming soon  . . .)

21 thoughts on “What’s going on??”

  1. SADIE!!! You’re Back! Ha! Sounds like you been busy gurl – new licences, accreditation, training and life lessons (that lazy no good for nuthin Mo Fo of a boss – 😀 ). Whew. Don’t ever think we forgot ya. Did you know – and I am sure you did this through some electronic wizardry, you spell-caster,you – that every single solitary time I open an e-mail message from WP (like a post notification or a comment notification) the heading says ” Just something I was thinking about . . . 1:38 AM Flag this message” Except the time changes. There, see? Even when you’re not around, the spirits of WP are taking care of your bidiniss. Ha!

    Things are about status quo here in the cold dark realms of the country adjacent to the North Pole (well, give or take a few thousand miles 🙂 ). Jist pluggin’ away. You know how it is.

    Hang in there Sadie – I hope you find another job soon.

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      1. Whew – not sure what just happened there – Sorry – any way I just came back and listened to Perry and “What’s going on?” I’ve never heard her before – what a powerful voice. Amazing. I did a bit of research and realized that although she didn’t actually spend a lot of time recording she wrote and produced for some of the biggest names in rock for the last 20 years. – Pink, Augleria, Lisa Presley, James Blunt, and on and on. There were albums that where she wrote the whole thing and produced it all.

        Anyway, that is an awesome voice – I’m surprised I missed her completely. Thanks so much Sadie.

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    2. Hey Paul!! Yes, I am still alive & kickin’ out here . . . 😉 Hope this finds you doing well! Need to catch up with you my friend – I’ll be looking for your posts, so I can catch up . . . so glad you are keeping up with me 🙂 Still have the poem you wrote me on my desk – read it almost daily ❤

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  2. Wow, what a post. You’ve hit the target on so many of the problems we face today. In my opinion, government is not the answer. Your figs are closer to a real solution than anything the government has to offer. If they were a commercial enterprise it would be far more positive than any of the meaningless rhetoric coming from Washington. I recently posted my thoughts on the whole subject in “An Open Letter to My Uncle Sam”. I hope that you are soon able to use your newly acquired skill sets to reach your personal goals. Keep the faith.

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    1. Thanks Hariod – I haven’t burned the bridge yet, so we’ll see if anything else comes out of it. He did offer to give me the leads, & pay for the mail-out, so we’ll see . . . in the meantime, back looking . . . it’s a full-time job for sure! Hope this finds you doing well 🙂

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    1. I know WS – what’s going on – always loved that song . . . like you I have many many favs!!! Hope this finds you doing well & will be catching up with you soon!!

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    1. Thanks so much for the re-blog OM!! It’s not I don’t remember my WP family – it just seems like so many different things vie for my attention these days . . . but so comforting to know y’all are always here!!! You know you are one of my favs ❤

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  7. I don’t know where they get their statistics either, but I do know the fig tree’s not going to pay the mortgage or rent, or cover health insurance. If instead of thinking of “the government” we think of unemployment insurance and other forms of government support as things we can all do better together than individually, we might do a better job of working them into the life of the nation. I moved from the US to the UK some years ago, and the National Health System (although it’s under attack from the current government) is almost universally loved. Everyone is covered, and no one has to pay for treatment, although most people pay some (in American terms minimal) amount for prescriptions. After being around it a few years, I’ve begun to think that any other system is insane.

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    1. Hi Ellen! So glad you stopped in for a read and commented 🙂 I am the first to admit that I have no idea what needs to be done, just know things need to be done differently going forward or . . .

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  8. You covered a lot of turf, there. Well done. I have a college-educated 30 year old son who was downsized after 3 years at a professional writing job. He still struggles to get back. Those statistics on unemployment do not do justice to those who are long-term unemployed, no longer eligible for benefits; and most especially, those over-educated and under-employed. Very sad. Thanks for a thoughtful post. ☺ Van

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    1. Hi VBTR! So glad you stopped in for a read & commented! I have a bad habit of combining a lot of ideas into one “discussion” – LOL!

      I do agree – unemployment statistics are not accurate, for all the reasons you stated – my husband & I fit each & every one. It is a very sad situation that I feel many are unaware of, if it’s not happening to them. So glad you found the post thoughtful, always my intent 🙂

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  9. Sadie!!! Hello, long time no read.
    Just one point to disagree, ( you know I have to disagree, it´s demoooocracy!!) The affordable care act or Obamacare, is neither affordable nor it is sustainable over the long run. Here in Spain we have Universal Health Care, which is the aim of the Obamacare in the long run to have what we have here in Spain. It´s affordable for the people that can´t pay for an operation, example me, if I lived in the U.S and had suffered there the pancreatitis I will probably not have lived so in a way is good on the other hand is a lot but a lot of money to sustain by the tax payers and when you have more money coming out from the State to pay for all the entitlements and less money going into the State well the State has to raise taxes and not only on the rich but on the middle class which eventually ends up destroying the middle class which in return means we are screwed. A country with very small middle class = banckrupcy, which Spain owes 98% of it´s debt, which is basically bankrupt. Now the hospitals here, have no money to improve their installations, less nurses, doctors, less trained by the way. You had to see the young nurses trying to stick niddles in my arm, hell I did a basic medic course in my cool army days and I can put a needle inside myself better than these called nurses (although they where hot so I just shut up and stared and actually gave directions which is not good since it did piss them off), so eventually it is an unsustainable system. It looks great at the beginning saying everyone is covered, but the reality is that at the end of the day not everyone will be able to get coverage even if it´s free. I see it happening here.

    Just my crazy ramblings, about the gays, I could care less. If they´re happy I´m happy. The more happy people walking around the better.

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    1. Mr. Priest! I have missed you, as well 🙂 You are correct, the ACA is not affordable, I Know I am struggling to pay for it, and I am not educated enough to know if it is sustainable . . . economics is not my strong suit . . . but, if I at least am inspiring people to think about it, I am attaining my goal!

      And I agree, the more happy people walking around the better – we all deserve to be happy, especially if it is at no one else’s expense!

      Hope this finds you doing well – I will be catching up with your posts soon 🙂

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