We all know that people in the luxury industries are hurting. Artists, jewelers, furriers and luxury car makers are all struggling these days and we are not surprised. I doubt we’re even sympathetic, except maybe for the artists. It’s easy to think of a certain level of luxury and scoff. No new yacht, Ferrari or $10,000 Viking stove? Tough luck!
Instead of thinking about THOSE sorts of luxuries, think about what the luxuries are in your life. Now think about who’s going to be hurting when you let them go. I’m not suggesting you should hang on to those things. We all have to do what we need to do in order to survive. If we think about it a little bit though, perhaps it will make us just a tad more sympathetic towards those who are really being hurt.
When, safe in our homes and at least currently safe in our jobs, we say, “screw ‘em, let it ride, tough luck”. We’re thinking about no new Ferrari guy. What about cleaning ladies? We might not have sympathy for Mrs. Jones, who is now forced to clean her own house but what about her laid-off cleaning lady? Do we have sympathy for her? We’re hard pressed to be sympathetic to those who had to give up all those Starbucks lattes (actually, they're us!). But what about the people who used to serve them? Starbucks are closing left and right. What about personal chefs? We may not have any sympathy for their former employers who now have to scramble their own eggs, but what about their previous employee? Personal chefs are people just like us who were able to sell their culinary skills. How about masseuses, pedicurists, gardeners and dog walkers?
The mindset that the primary victims of the current economy are those who bought more house than they could afford and charged up thousands of dollars on credit cards seems to be alive and well. Amazingly, I’m still reading about it on blogs, Twitter posts and in various forums. It has a very self-righteous, sanctimonious ring to it. There is no doubt that people who saved and lived within their means are hurting less than those who did not. There is also no doubt that plenty of people who did everything right are hurting too.
I recently read an article about 700 people who applied for a job as a janitor in some Ohio junior high school. The job paid $15 an hour. How about 59 people applying for a job as a greeter in a North Carolina Wal-Mart? There may have been a few actual janitors and Wal-Mart greeters in that pool but I suspect the majority were people who could no longer find work in their chosen field, or any other field for that matter. Some of them may be in their current situation due to their own misdeeds and poor choices but I suspect a lot of them were victims of circumstances beyond their control.
While we are justifiably enjoying our homes, our jobs and our painstakingly funded bank accounts, we need to have a little non-judgmental sympathy for those on the unemployment line, regardless of how they got there. “There but for the grace of God go I”, should be our mantra these days and we should not allow ourselves to forget it. We need to help each other, whether we deserve it or not.
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8 comments:
Amen to this whole post. I run a small business as a photographer and I am definitely seeing a trickle down result that affects my ability to earn a living. I may not live in a $500,000 house, but the people who do are the ones who hire me - or did. Now with everyone cutting back, spending a few hundred $$ on photos of junior doesn't seem so important. I totally understand, but it doesn't help much when I look at my bottom line at the end of the month and see the numbers shrinking.
I second Kara's "amen" here. As a professional writer whose career is seriously impacted by the econ crisis, I'm viewing this through a similar lens. Nobody really "needed" those glossy magazines or newspapers that went out of business this year (or are about to fold as I type this). But those publications kept a lot of editors, writers, and designers working. Because I don't know where or when the other shoe will fall in my business, I am much more cautious about spending on luxuries and services I didn't think twice about earlier. Small example: I am more likely to buy used books than new ones (which doesn't help my colleagues, I know) and the list goes on....
I have definitely pondered the fate of my former cleaning lady and her cleaning ladies. This is one part of the trickle down that works, unfortunately.
Being in a business, a chain of local garden center, which hires seasonally, I guess I am on the other side of this post. It is no less hard. I am always looking to hire a few good people each year to supplement the people that don’t return after the winter layoff, which was earlier and bigger last fall than ever before in my 20 years with this company. Across three stores, I had probably 12-15 openings. We put out our Now Hiring signs as always for this time of year and I was immediately inundated, drowning in, even swept away by the number of applicants that came in. Each had their own sad story of jobs lost, families in need and a willingness to take any employment I had to offer. In all, I probably took in over 200 applications. I wanted to hire them all. Intellectually, I already knew that things were tough out there. Emotionally, I was unprepared for hearing it first hand from so many. I have filled the positions I had and have sent letters to all the rest, but they weigh on my mind. I hope things turn around soon but I think it may be a while yet. I hope they can hold on.
@Kara & @Cindy - You are certainly she. Hard to fault people who are cutting back but life is getting tougher for so many people. The trickle down effect is huge and is affecting more people than we can even imagine.
@Laura - We're all doing what we have to do, no denying it. We just have to hope the people who used to get the business we can no longer afford to give them can hold out.
@Cheryl - that must have really been heartbreaking. You know if people were actually divulging their sad stories they were really hurting. I'm sure it was terrible to have to turn so many away. It tears at my heart just to read about it.
Thanks all for sharing your perspective.
These are tough times we're living in and you bring up good points about the trickle-down effect. There was an article in the LA Times last week about one man losing his job. He then laid off his nanny who then stopped getting his haircut. The barber, because of a downturn in his business, stopped eating lunch at the neighborhood restaurant, so now the waitress earns much less. It goes on and on.
So thoughtful--thanks as always.
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