| MP |
Posted
on 28-Nov-02 09:37 AM
Folks,
The downturned economy of US is giving hard time to most of the people in different parts of the States and Massachusetts is not apart of it. Here is a story from Boston Globe 11/28/2002:
Despite being laid off, software worker stays upbeat
By Carlene Hempel, Globe Correspondent, 11/28/2002
C raig Brenner began to sense last spring that his time could be up at a Waltham software company. So when the boss called him in on Oct. 1 to terminate his $135,000-a-year job, he politely gathered his things, climbed into his Volvo, and hit Route 3 south home to Plymouth.
He's been there ever since, splitting time between his upstairs office, where he plots out new business strategies, and the family room, with his wife, Michelle, and two boys, Collyn, 4, and Cameryn, 2.
''There are a lot of people I know who have been out of a job for nine months, but that's not going to be me,'' said Brenner, 35, a man whose faith in God is so strong he believes his misfortune is part of a plan. ''I'm a builder,'' he says. ''Soon, it's a new year. There's going to be a recovery, a fresh start.''
This year, though, the Brenners, like so many this holiday season, are stuck in that strange place where routine dances with uncertainty. The holidays will come and go, as always. But with no end in sight to the economic downturn, they can't yet tell when their lives will return to normal. So they carry on as best they can, and they wait.
The approach of Thanksgiving made it easier. For weeks, they've looked forward to its comforting rituals: Watching the Lions and Cowboys games with Michelle's father and brother. All those pies - at least an apple, a pumpkin, and a pecan. The Waldorf salad Grandpa John always makes and, best of all, Grandma Pat's gorgeous turkey.
Craig Brenner knows Michelle's father will ask about his job search, about how they've been managing. He'll tell them he's creating a portfolio, and that he's entered an Internet-based master's program to help his odds. He'll tell them that he's got it all figured out.
Brenner was a poster boy for the new economy. As recently as 1997, he was earning $37,000-a-year managing a Bruegger's Bagels in Boston. When the Internet boom began, he studied the industry and soon landed a job as a sales manager for a local Internet service provider. He moved onto another technology company and then another, watching his salary grow to four times what it had been, then just as suddenly, turn into an unemployment check.
What he is left with is a three-year-old $400,000 house on more than an acre of land and no prospects for a job approaching his peak pay. So, there have been sacrifices to make.
The family has no health insurance because the $750-a-month cost is too steep. And Michelle Brenner is foregoing her $300 shopping trips to Wal-Mart.
They've canceled their gym memberships, newspaper subscriptions, and an account with a dry cleaning service that makes house calls. Instead of paying every month for garbage pickup, the Brenners bought a $60 dump sticker good for a year. Instead of going out to dinner once a week, they go out once a month.
Finally, Michelle Brenner, who was a social worker before her husband's growing salary allowed her to become a full-time mother, is contemplating a return to the work force if Craig's emergency account - he's socked away enough to get the family through much of 2003 - runs out.
Yet, no one in this two-story contemporary Victorian on Early Red Circle seems to be worried. They're not consumed by the CNBC ticker. They're not counting the days until the unemployment checks stop. They're still trying to have a third child - a girl this time, they hope. They won't even hold back on Christmas spending - even though they received their $2,000 Christmas Club savings account check after the layoff.
''Our morals and our values are much more important than our things,'' said Michelle Brenner, 32. She simply doesn't believe they will be forced to shoulder more than they can bear.
And there's something else - something to be grateful for. Unemployment has afforded Craig Brenner what he has not had in years: time. Fifteen- to 18-hour days have given way to normal work hours up in his home office. He eats lunch and dinner at home now. For the first time since he married, Brenner will be able to spend more than just Thanksgiving Day with his family. In fact, they left for Michelle's parents' house in Goshen, N.Y., a day earlier than usual.
''If there's any kind of upside in this whole entire thing, it's that family is so important, and we'll have more time,'' Brenner said with his broad smile. He was even looking forward to helping the boys pack for the Thanksgiving trip. ''This year, I get to be home with my kids and my wife.''
:( :( :( :( :( :( a lot of :( : :( :(
|
