Hard Times in My Neighborhood

Hard Times in my Neighborhood

I am so tired. I am tired of working every hour I can work and still never having enough money to pay all my bills, buy clothes, food, or anything else. I am tired of being told I, "make too much money to qualify for housing help or food stamp assistance" or any other thing that might help get me through another month, and I am so tired of watching the government "bail out" millionaires who "made wrong business decisions, knowing that they made more money in one month than I will ever see in a lifetime. I love my country, but I sure do not feel like my country loves me very much lately.

Anyone who has read my articles knows my struggles since the factory I worked for shut down over four years ago. Anyone who has had to deal with the same situations knows how frustrated and disgusted I am right now. I did all the right things, I thought, I went back to school, I earned an Associates Degree and I thought that would help me get a better job-yeah, right. I heard time after time, "you have the degree but not the experience" as they sent me to job after job that paid minimum wage $6.25 an hour and offered no benefits whatsoever. So, I went back to my old stomping ground, (factory work) to try to get a higher wage and good benefits, only to find that the door to the factory is mostly controlled now by the temp services. Now, people will tell you that temp services are good, and maybe they are for some situations, but not for the older worker seeking permanent employment. The truth is, temp services will work a person about 6 months and then make up some kind of reason to let them go, so they can take the next new batch of temp workers waiting at the door. This practice is great for the factory because they never have to pay benefits or anything else and great for the temp service because they always have new applicant, but it just plain stinks for the workers who need permanent jobs with options of raises and benefits. It is very hard to get hired through a temp service and if you are an older worker, it is almost impossible.