ON THE BREADLINE: STEPHANIE SENERCHIA

Senerchia, of Providence, Rhode Island, worked for nearly a decade in health-care administration and management before taking the reins of a “medi-spa” that closed two years ago. She has not since found a new job. “I never thought it would be so hard to find something else, but Rhode Island truly lives up to all the rumors of corruption and nepotism,” she says. “It is not a meritocracy here, and if you don’t have connections, a sought-after and specific skill set, or friends in high places, you’re more or less screwed, especially in the current economy.”

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

Not much! Coffee? Laundry? The need to pee?

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

I try to get enough exercise, which usually does the trick. If that’s not enough, there is always bourbon and prescription medication.

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

We eat more meals at home and buy more economical booze. I scrutinize the prices of things I never used to consider. I rarely buy clothes, which isn’t such a problem as I don’t exactly have to look presentable in an office every day. I do not have health insurance. We only have one car. We are likely not going to Europe or Cleveland this year.

Share with us some of your recession gallows humor.

If I say I’m tired at the end of the day, I feel sort of foolish and hear a lot of (mostly light-hearted) flak. Tired from what? But there is a mental drain that goes along with not having a purpose. It’s made me rethink the meaning of life. Having no purpose is soul-sucking if you allow it to be.

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

The pendulum always swings one way, then swings back. This may be the first time an economic recession/depression has affected me so directly in my 36 years, but I have learned that it’s not the first time in history it’s happened, and that gives me hope. Life has its ups and downs. It’s the little things that matter. Will I regret not having had a closet full of designer clothes as I take my dying breath? I doubt it.