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How I Survived the 1980s
Earlier this week, one reader Calvin – a veteran of the U.S. Navy – told us how disappointing his job search was and how he didn’t want to work a low-paying job outside his ideal career path. He was bitter about how being marred by debt and not reaping the benefits a college degree is supposed to provide. …
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Shop 'Til You Drop The Price
As expected, responses to the suggestion that people stop shopping altogether for a while in order to save money contained the same level of enthusiasm as a vegan would have after being offered neck bones and ox tails. Most of the “you must be crazy” reactions came from women – although let me say, before…
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Defeat That Debt
With all due respect to Dr. Phil, when I read his advice to those drowning in debt, I wanted his money back. I thought his shtick was that he’s tough – a real straight shooter who drills the point into the heads of people. While I do understand the emotional problems associated with some shopaholics,…
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Are Immigrants Being Treated Unfairly?
Much of the discussion about the role the recession has played on immigrants is centered on illegal immigrants and what roles they play in the job market. For those immigrants who are documented workers, not enough has been said about how they are coping with job losses and how the laws of the land only…
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Too Much Pride or Justified?
Before things started to pick up, it was suggested to me that I work at a juvenile detention center as a detention officer. Here I was a recent college graduate with dreams of becoming a successful writer being told that I need to get over myself and go babysit some yuckmouth, trifling kids on their…
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Check On Unemployment
Getting an unemployment check is a lot like surviving a car crash with injuries. Yeah, you’re happy you’ve survived, but it would be nice to be able to walk without crutches soon. I’m not sure who these people paying off their trips to India with their unemployment checks are, but they sound nothing like the…
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What's In A Name?
So far the bulk of the mail I’ve received stems from my piece, “Is College Worth It?” I’ve gotten everything from pity to appreciation to flat out ridicule. The ridicule has been the most interesting to read. Quite a few have reacted as if I owed them money. Many have questioned why after writing about…
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So Anxious
The more I talk to my 20-something friends, the more I hear the same sentiment. We’re supposed to be the generation of promise, but with our degrees and hard work being greeted by the worst economic crisis in decades, it’s sometimes hard to continue believing in that promise. Now many wonder if Generation Y will respond similar…
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Whose Life Is It Anyway?
About four years ago, I and a friend were robbed at gunpoint leaving the Washington, D.C. club Love. It was Howard Homecoming time, the club was located near the projects, we shouldn’t have parked where we did … you can guess what happened next. I wasn’t really afraid. The second I got back to my friend’s…
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Right Back Where I Started
Close your eyes and imagine the East Coast/West Coast beef of the ‘90s. There, you’ve just met my parents. Want to stop by for Thanksgiving? I met the idea of moving back home with about as much as excitement as I did returning to the dentist that ripped out of my wisdom teeth without Novocain.…
