Brother, Can You Spare A Job?

July 2, 2009 | By Patt Morrison

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Sometimes you wish you could just reach through the microphone and make things better for some callers. I felt that way earlier in the week, when a number of battered women called with such terrible stories of suffering during the segment about the domestic violence documentary, ''Sin by Silence.''

The same feeling came over me today, hearing from so many obviously able, smart listeners who'd been fired. It made today's sobering Labor Department stats about unemployment very real. One caller who was fired after 15 years on the job said he was so overqualified for the service job he finally did get that he lost that one. William, the journeyman carpenter, jobless for the first time in 20 years, found himself standing in a home supply store parking lot among day laborers -- but no one would hire him because he asked for $10 or $12 an hour and not minimum wage, or less [the average hourly wage in the country, the Labor Department says, is just above $18 an hour, and in California it's no doubt higher].

Yes, yes, unemployment is one of the last things to recover in a recession, but that's no consolation to so many of you who want to work and can't find anything. There were a few hopeful calls from people who had found new and occasionally better jobs, or had gone back to college, but the whole tone was dispiriting.

Also loads of calls came in about how many Americans are having a great old time rating everything online -- books, movies, restaurants, plumbers, doctors. It's a subjective art, one that our guests said requires some careful reading and evaluation. It also treads on the dangerous territory of ''gaming'' the Internet with flame-out slagging anonymous comments about some business by its competitors -- or, conversely, a suspiciously high number of flattering remarks that read like they could have come from your mother. And maybe they did.

Oh, and Manny Ramirez comes back to the Dodgers lineup after a 50-game suspension. Will it be ''Wooooo!'' or ''Booooo!''?

Tomorrow, for the Fourth of July, P.J. O'Rourke waxes nostalgic about cars with big fins, big gas tanks and big back seats, and two authors duke it out over their books. One title's ''1959: The Year Everything Changed,'' and the other is entitled, ''1969: The Year Everything Changed.'' Ladies and gentlemen, fill out your fight cards!

Don't forget that the cacophony of fireworks can terrify your pets into doing things they'd never do otherwise -- like getting out and running away. Trust me, it can happen. Please be sure to keep them safe on the Fourth.

-- Patt Morrison

B from Monrovia
4 months, 3 weeks ago

Los Angeles County Gain Program will be one of the first places for people to find jobs in this month. The program will be sponsoring programs to get people back to work. The Federal government stimulus packagethey are receiving will include work placement...not just job finders programs. Gain can be mandatory for people on welfare...but many people don't know you can sign up for assistance as a volunteer to the program. Who knows what kind of jobs will be available but who cares when like me you have been unable to pay rent, bills, or figure out where your food is going to come from. Encourage the listeners tap into this resource. As they say at GAIN: A Job leads to a career leads to your future. I tried to get through during the broadcast but could not get on.

Corinne Wilson
4 months, 2 weeks ago

I called the show yesterday but didn't get on air because of time. My point was about teen jobs for the summer. I am a manager with a large company who received a call three weeks ago asking to host a teen for the summer under the Obama Stimulus plan. We teach, they pay. " of course!" I said, what a great idea! reverse Peace Corps! I told the lady we have 75 sites and would love to participate. She said she only wanted positions in the Long Beach area. "Surely Obama didn't intend to put teens to work only in Long Beach?" I told her, half joking. She was getting confused, so I explained that she could coordinate with all her fellow recruiters in other districts and states. We manage businesses in four states. I offered a list of all sites. She said she'd get back to me. A week later, after working out the logistics with my company's owner, who was also enthusiastic, I still hadn't heard back. So I called. And called. Finally she called back to say she was on sick leave and someone else would call. Another week later, no call. I called again. Same lady called back, "Oh didn't anyone get back to you?" I'm still on sick leave, I'll make sure someone calls." Its now over another week, no one has called. I feel like a fool for putting my end together and I am sad for 75 teens who could be in a great learning situation. The irony is that these people "working" for the Stimulus Plan have paid jobs! Summer will be over before these idiots comply. Thank you, Corinne Wilson

Bill Genevro
4 months, 2 weeks ago

Patt,

Listening to your program yesterday while traveling around to pick up parts from some of my vendors I called in to to ask if the unemployment numbers understate the problem re: the the self employed.

With the highest unemployment in 26 years, one of the differences between now and 26 years ago is that we have more small individual owned businesses now.
A quick trip through the industrial parks of North San Diego county will show a high vacancy rate that makes the quoted unemployment/underemployment rate suspect. Perhaps you can find a guest that can discuss the impact on the self employed and the ways they are coping.

Ted
4 months, 2 weeks ago

Pat,
You wrote:

William, the journeyman carpenter, jobless for the first time in 20 years, found himself standing in a home supply store parking lot among day laborers -- but no one would hire him because he asked for $10 or $12 an hour and not minimum wage, or less [the average hourly wage in the country, the Labor Department says, is just above $18 an hour, and in California it's no doubt higher].

Which is it?

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