East Village resident Paige Ferrari, 26, was one of the 35 employees who lost their jobs when Radar abruptly folded a few weeks back. In a piece in the Times today, she talks about the layoffs and the future. Among the obnservations:
You picture the layoffs as “Oh, I worked at the plant for 10 years, and then they didn’t want me to make this certain wheel part anymore.” Not people in this sort of cushy industry — maybe it’s a trickle-up thing? It’s starting to affect the yuppies in the East Village. That’s when you know it’s a recession: when your yuppie neighbors are going on unemployment.
Later:
I came home one day and my roommate was trying to call unemployment. That’s when I still had a job, so I was very smug. He was trying to call unemployment to get his unemployment money, but he couldn’t get through the menu because he had just got a new iPhone. So he was trying to find the keypad on the new iPhone. I was like, “I don’t think the unemployment menu is set up for people with iPhones.
it is weird to hear someone trying to call unemployment with an iPhone but
ReplyDeletethis is what's happening now.
if being unemployed and going through the phase of looking for work makes people a bit more humane to each other, I say it's worth it.
Because I think in the last seven years, New Yorkers were mean while getting fat.