"That 70's Show..."

Rather than comment on current events today, I'm getting personal. Today my ex-husband lost his job - the job he has done for 29 years - his entire adult career. And with one quick meeting, he was given severance and told his services were no longer needed. We met at the Dallas Times Herald in 1977 at our first real jobs - he was Classified Automotive Outside Sales manager and I was one of the first females hired for National Advertising. It was such a fun, optimistic time. I feel sorry for my children to not have hope for the future like we did. All of the sales staffs at the Times Herald at that time were in our twenties, and everyone worked hard and played hard. I can remember calling on these huge financial accounts and saying, "Would you like a full page or double truck?" People had more money than they knew what to do with. Christmas parties were a huge event of the year with businesses spending thousands on those alone. And not only did we make our salary and our commission, but they also gave away trips to Vegas and the Caribbean for monthly goals.

Anyway.

We moved to San Antonio after the birth of our second child, Alex and he went to work for the Express-News. But with poor management, he sought another job with Moore Business Forms, where his father had spent his entire career in Dallas. Both of us have been in the "paper" business our entire careers, and they are a dying breed. We all know the way of metro newspapers with the introduction of the internet and the high cost of paper. And in my ex's business, the high cost of paper and desktop publishing, has done the same. His biggest accounts over the years have been the hospitals, but the final nail in the coffin lately for him is... wait for it... the Prez. Yes, the prez mandated that all hospitals have to go paperless, so that electronic files can be sent to the government, so that under Obamacare, they can oversee our every move. So with the loss of those accounts, it's been hard to make a living.

When we talked this afternoon, P was trying to process the shock of it all. It's like when a close relative is dying - you know it will eventually happen, but it always hurts and is shocking when it finally does. And as Baby Boomers with retirement that is minimal, getting a job at an older age is pretty scary. Yes, God promises to take care of our needs, but it's unsettling to say the least. And the newspaper where I work is struggling like the rest of the businesses in town, and my boss says she is about to make big changes. I'm tired of worrying about it all. My son has been unemployed in Austin since his layoff last summer, and Alex's baby is due any time. I just wish that America was like it was when I was younger.

When hope wasn't something talked about; it was just there....