Eastern Cowley County Resource Center

By Lynn Pettigrew Norris

“Don’t let the recession keep you from dreaming. “

Obviously, common sense tells us all to hold on to any job we may have that is bringing in an income. After all, the current recession continues to produce unemployment figures that have not been seen for decades and the numbers continue to head upward. I spoke with a business associate the other day who agreed with my statement, “I think all of us know someone who is unemployed.” She replied with, ‘Or we know ten people who are unemployed!” She was right.

But what about those bloggers who headed off into the sunset after leaving the corporate world – and there are many. Here are some examples of persons who took the plunge:

• http://johnnygotbetter.com/2009/05/why-i-quit-my-job-during-a-recession-and-put-an-end-to-negative-stress/

• http://www.brunetteonabudget.com/2009/05/i-did-it-i-quit-my-job_12.html

• http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/cs/2008/10/i_just_quit_my_job_am_i_crazy.html

I remain intrigued by those who are able to shake off the thoughts their mind

produces, the voices that speak volumes about common sense and survival during a recession. “Look at all the people you know who are looking for a job.” “If you quit, you will never find another job in this economy.” “No one will hire you if you are off on some sabbatical instead of actively working in a job.” These are just some of the examples of the voices in the minds of those who toss around the possibility of turning in their notice at work. Why are their minds different than the masses who remain in a job that is draining the joy out of them? Why are they able to push aside the fear (over being unemployed) that dominates their longing to do something else.

There has been much said about finding one’s dream. There have been volumes of books and articles written on this subject. Here is a list of books I found on this subject:

• Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow, by Marsha Sinetar

• Work With Passion: How To Do What You Love, by Nancy Anderson

• I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was, by Barbara Sher

• This Time I Dance: Creating The Work You Love, by Tama Kieves

I think back on the times in our family’s life when we took a path that at the time made less sense than the secure path we were on. I remember one time in particular when my husband was working at a very steady (at that time) job at Boeing. Each pay day, I would meet him outside the factory with my vanload of children and go buy our groceries. This was the job he had found after getting out of active duty in the Air Force. But his dream was to fly on the K-C 10’s. With no guarantee of a position, he turned in his notice at work, and we sold or gave away most of our belongings, keeping only a few things that we loaded on a flat-bed trailer and headed from Kansas to North Carolina to the new K-C 10 base at Seymour Johnson where we would reside for the following six years.

I remember pulling into the city of our destination and feeling the cultural shift – the great divide that we had crossed from our familiar home in Kansas. People were friendly, but we were not in Kansas anymore.

After meeting with some personnel on base, the job materialized, but it would be a month to six weeks before things were ready. It would be even longer before we saw a paycheck. Yet, looking back at that time, I do remember the leap of faith that we took. We left a steady job that produced a steady paycheck to head across country on our last dollar with four small children. Once there, it was another leap of faith that everything would work out and the military wing would hire my husband for one of the very few open slots. To those around us (relatives and acquaintances), we must have seemed nuts to them.

I wonder what our life would be like today if we had not taken that plunge into the unknown. So many twists and turns happened based on that one single action. We bought our first home in North Carolina. Both my husband and I completed our bachelor degrees at East Carolina University. Our children got to swim regularly in the ocean. We got to sit near the flight line when my husband was away on military duty and watch the planes land and take off. So many life experiences of ours are attributed to our notion to leave a job and take a chance.

Hopefully, not even a recession will stop us from dreaming. Hopefully it will not dampen our faith. Hopefully it will not stop all hope that things will work out in spite of the circumstances at hand.

The entire time we lived in North Carolina, I longed to return home to my Kansas roots. While there, I wrote a poem about being homesick. Here is one stanza of the poem:

I want to be a farmer

It’s what I want to be

Where friends are helping neighbors

And I’m free to just be me

After we moved back to Kansas where my husband finished out his military career at McConnell, my mother sent me my poem with these words written across the top: “Sometimes, dreams really do come true!”

By Lynn Pettigrew Norris

Today is Thanksgiving. I got up at 3:30, partly to put the "bird" on and partly because of the excitement and anticipation of the day.

This year's Thanksgiving is perhaps my most favorite ever. This has been a season of loss in many ways. So many persons in our area have lost their jobs. So many are still unemployed. Still others are working at lesser paying jobs or jobs beneath their skill level. There is something honorable about making a living any way one can.

Sometimes a person can have the ideal job - and lose it. Sometimes this loss comes without warning. You may have done everything in your control to do a wonderful job. You may be a conscientious worker. You may have a great work ethic. Still, and perhaps more times than is imagined, you failed the test of "office politics". For some, this stranger (office politics) is not part of their personal constitution. In today's job market, there is usually someone's friend, relative, or otherwise would can step into your job once you fail this course caused by this intruder - office politics. Employers are only too aware of the volume of qualified applicants when they post a job opening.

One local company reported that there were over 65 qualified applicants for a technical position. Still another reported that nearly 200 qualified applicants had sent in resumes for an opening. Others report interviews where they were told that there were over 50 professional (and qualified) positions requiring a specific license or training. How on earth could anyone compete in such a job market?

I know of a young woman who had a wonderful job. She was fired one day when her babysitter of four years was out of state on vacation and her back-up babysitter had a family emergency and could not provide that day's childcare. When this young mother called in to her employer, she was told not to bother coming in the next day and to turn in her cell phone and keys. Surely this employer knew there were 10 if not 50 qualified persons who could step into that same job once the opening was advertised. The irony is that this young woman had received recognition for doing a great job earlier that month. To conclude this tale, this woman was denied unemployment benefits based on the employer's statement that she was not "ready and able to report to work that day".

What ever happened to employer loyalty - and it does go both ways? I was always taught not to bad-mouth those who feed you (your employer). Thank goodness there are still wonderful employers in the world who treat people with dignity and respect and appreciate the hard work that their employees do for the company. Thank goodness there are still employers who would have taken the same young woman in this story and given her another chance. Perhaps they would have told her to use one of her available sick days for the day she needed to miss. Perhaps they could have allowed her to work on Saturday to make up that day's work. Or if nothing else, they could have allowed her to have missed that days pay in order to care for her child. After all, life does sometimes present family emergencies.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. There is so much to be thankful for. Thank goodness for wonderful employers and business persons and corporations who offer valuable employment for families so they can survive. Thank goodness for employees who still retain a sense of duty, honor, and ethics. Thank goodness for public workers who provide vital services such as healthcare, utilities, and safety.

That young woman that I spoke of - she was blessed with a new job recently. It is a professional job that will use many of her skills and talents. It is one that she described as the "perfect" job for her - as it offers everything that she was hoping for. Had she not been asked to leave her last job, perhaps she would still be there and this better job would not be a reality in her life. Sometimes, life does work out for the good of those who hold fast to positive values.

I offer a prayer on behalf of everyone in our area who still needs a job (and there are many). Don't lose heart. Keep trying. Keep applying. Meanwhile, don't forget to dream. What would you do if you could do anything you wanted to do? Perhaps you should look into starting your own business to use those skills.

Here are some businesses that were starting during either recessions or the depression: http://www.insidecrm.com/features/businesses-started-slump-111108/

Don't forget to keep your name out there among any circles you may know. Tell everyrone you know that you are looking for a job. This is no time to be timid or proud. After all, you need a job, right?

By the way - the young woman in the story - she almost did not get that job. After all, she had applied for many "similar" jobs with no luck many times before. There would no doubt be the usual 50 - 200 applicants. Besides, the deadline was up that day. "Click" - off went her resume. Would you believe the very next morning her phone rang and it was the call that changed her life? Don't give up until you have a job or start your own business.

I recently read a book that was written by a man who had been fired from a very good job in his life. He had started his own business after having no luck in finding a replacement job. The book - Career Transition, by Darren Homes - made some good points. He discusses the importance of networking in order to keep your name out there. He discusses the positive side of being unemployed. Yes, I had to read his words to find out what on earth he had to say about being without an income. But he made some very great points. The book is in the Lighthouse Library collection of books and can be checked out by anyone once the doors are open. If you want to read it now, just e-mail me.

ECCRC provided some Thanksgiving food to some area families. As part of my day job, I organized a Thanksgiving feast for noon today for 75 low-income persons. Yesterday, I enjoyed seeing their anticipation as I set up the tables in the large community room and decorated with beautiful table cloths and Thanksgiving decorations. A group of 10 volunteers will bring in the feast. A local church donated take-home trays should any of the individuals want to take food home. Our hometown (Dexter) provided a community Thanksgiving meal last week. Their goal was to have 100 guests and we believe that goal was reached.

As I went about the duties of my job as a Social Service Coordinator, I noticed that the lines are different than the lines I saw about 10 years ago. There are entire families in the lines now. Families were lining up to get a Thanksgiving turkey, clothing for winter, or to get other needs filled. The Salvation Army donated 50 coats for the individuals whom I assist. The vast room where coats and sweaters were hanging was amazing as families searched for coats for their children. There is much need in our area, but there are those around to help meet that need.

This past week, an individual donated $50.00 for the Lighthouse Library project. This huge gift was amazing in this economy and very much appreciated. It has become difficult to solicit funds for ECCRC when there are those who are hungry among us.

Here are some coloring pages for the kids: http://holidays.kaboose.com/thanks-color.html

Happy Thanksgiving. May God bless you all.