ON THE BREADLINE: MARY WHEELER

Wheeler, of Portland, Oregon, was a historian for a public agency and then, more briefly and recently, “at a sexy but shaky start-up company specializing in work for museums; it was a terrible time to go from being a public employee to the free market.” She was laid off last September.

How do you cope with getting up every morning? What motivates you?

The sun wakes me up at around 7 these days. I walk the dog, putter in the garden, look for jobs, apply for jobs, check Facebook, read a book, watch Hulu, cook some beans. After years of working my ass off, I’m frankly kind of enjoying the time off, and I’m staying busy with volunteer projects.

Likewise, how do you cope with getting to sleep at night, or getting any sleep, period?

I don’t have any problems sleeping at all. That isn’t to say that I don’t worry about money, but what can you do? So many people are out of work and things seem so generally dire, I feel like I can’t really blame myself, and that leaves my conscience clear for long afternoon naps. (You might be thinking I’m in my sixties at this point, but I’m in my early forties.)

Give an example of the sort of changes or cutbacks you’ve had to make in the way you live your life.

No eating out. No impulse purchases, even the smallest ones. Canceled Netflix and the New York Times. No first-run movies, switched to Schlitz from microbrew, no technology upgrades. A big change is buying cheap meat instead of free range, etc. Those poor little chickens are the real victims of our economy!

Share with us some of your recession gallows humor.

Sometimes at dinner my boyfriend and I will pretend like it’s the first Great Depression and I’m running a boarding house. He’ll call me “Ma.” It’s not a sex thing.

What, if anything, gives you hope that the future holds better things?

I guess I believe that I’m an okay person in spite of this shitty economy, and eventually the economy will pick up and eventually I’ll get work. Ask me again when this round of unemployment benefits run out, or my laptop dies, or my dog gets sick, or my furnace fails. I’ll be singing a different tune then.