ON THE BREADLINE: DAVID SCOTT DRANE

Drane, of Evanston, Illinois, was a staff architect at a smallish residential firm. “I and three others were part of the first wave of layoffs back in November,” he says. “It was around the same time the principals were soliciting ideas for the Holiday Party, which was, you know, super-classy.”

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

Working has never motivated me, so not working hasn’t really taken that kind of toll. Fortunately, the Boyfriend remains gainfully employed, so I do my part by schlepping him to and from work. It breaks up the day nicely and allows ample errand-running and NPR-listening opportunities along the way.

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

My motto is: better living through chemistry.

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

Giving up booze for Lent was definitely the most wallet-friendly move; however, now that Lent is over, the main savings come from an unemployment deferment for my student loans and general treading water for other debt.

Share with us some of your recession gallows humor.

I always laugh when friends and family ask if I’ve found a job yet. It’s the most well-meaningly-annoying and stress-inducing question possible. I’m pretty sure I’d lead with good news if I had some to share, so if I don’t mention it…

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

It didn’t take long after graduating from architecture school to come to the conclusion that I loathed the profession. You know all those lawyer jokes? Well, architects are essentially lawyers, except they make 80% less and have a fetish for eyewear. So, the fact that this economic downturn is forcing me out of the profession is a very, very good thing.

SHUTTERED

Photo by David Lawrence © 2009

ON THE BREADLINE: RACHEL SUGAR

You don’t need to have held down a job for years to feel the sting of unemployment. Sugar, of Brooklyn, graduated from college last year and promptly landed a position as an editorial assistant at an online magazine—only to get laid off in January.

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

I try to have delicious breakfast foods on hand—I’m into grapefruit. I make elaborate lists and schedules and morning appointments whenever possible. Sometimes it works.

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

I’m lucky, I suppose: extreme stress makes me sleepy. Staying asleep is the problem. For that, there’s Benadryl. Or Wal-dryl, rather—can’t be buying brand-name these days.

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

Mostly, I feel guilty. I eat lots of pasta. Lentils. Eggs. I read magazines at the bookstore, and I wear a lot of past-their-prime clothes that don’t really fit. And I’ve definitely stopped protesting when people offer to pay for things.

I angst over the price of take-out coffee, but I still buy it.

Share with us some of your recession gallows humor.

I’ve found some pretty hilarious job postings in my panicked Craigslist searches—I pass them along. There was one to be a “dog fluffer” (seemingly a cosmetic, rather than pornographic, position, requiring two years of grooming experience). One read: “New York based artist seeks 3 painters to assist in the production of paintings. Must be interested in the edge: sex, violence and dangerous ideas.” Then a “playwright” wanted a “partner” to help him develop his experimental new “playwrighting method” by accompanying him home for Thanksgiving and pretending to be his girlfriend.

I think about applying, but my sense of absurdity is stronger than my sense of adventure.

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

A friend of mine pointed out that, as early 20-somethings, we have the advantage of not having lost much, since we came into the recession with virtually nothing to lose.

Sometimes I can muster the blind faith to believe that things will get better because they have to get better. In the meantime, I fantasize about grad school—it seems like a kind of escape route.

PANTSED

Photo by David Lawrence © 2009

ON THE BREADLINE: AARON SALVO

Salvo, of McDonough, Georgia, was the assistant pastry chef at an Atlanta fine-dining restaurant. He lost his job in January of this year.

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

My daughter was born on November 8, 2008. She’s usually up early in the morning wanting to be fed, so for my wife and me, getting out of bed isn’t a problem.

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

Right now, I’m not sleeping. I went from being in such a high-energy line of work to doing pretty much nothing all day. The insomnia is getting tough.

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

My wife and I are both out of work, and I’m the only one who was able to get unemployment. So we’ve cut back a lot. Dinner out is a real treat and usually something very inexpensive, and even then we’re doing things like sharing a Coke. The cable TV is gone, but we’ve had to hold on to the Internet to look for jobs and just keep from going crazy. We’ve been cooking at home a lot, which I know sounds odd coming from a cook, but truth be told, a large number of cooks don’t cook at home. We’ve found a lot of creative things to do with ramen noodles.

Share with us some of your recession gallows humor.

I always laugh when someone asks me what time is convenient to meet. I always reply with, “I’m home all day.” Or when my wife asks me to take the trash out, I’ll zing back with, “Why don’t you get a job?”

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

Well, oddly enough, my wife was offered a job in Ohio. Unfortunately, they’re still working on paperwork, etc., and can’t give her a start date or even a salary. (Don’t worry, it’s a legit job with the government.) So there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but apart from that, nothing, really. I know it sounds terrible, but there just doesn’t seem to be any good news out there. I hear over and over again from my family, “Why can’t you find a job? Why can’t your wife find a job? You just need to look harder,” and on and on. I wish it were just that easy, but when you have 19,000 people showing up to a career fair with only a couple hundred jobs to offer…well, do the math.

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.

AN UNRETIRED DRAWING

Here’s yet another disturbingly prescient old illustration from Ross MacDonald. “I drew this back in 1995 for one of the financial magazines; I’ve long forgotten which one,” he says. “I suspect I was taking my usual approach to illustrating dry business articles: visual hyperbole. For an article about the faint possibility of minor fluctuations in the value of retirement plans, why not really lay it on thick and show a guy’s 401(k) reduced to an empty shell? Hilarious! Of course, I have only to look at my recent retirement account statement to see how right I was.”

Illustration by Ross MacDonald ©1995

ON THE BREADLINE: TERRY RANDOLPH

Randolph ran his own marketing-communications agency in Minneapolis for 25 years, doing P.R. and marketing work for everyone from Saks Fifth Avenue to the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority to Yanni, the bountifully tressed Greek-born (and University of Minnesota-educated) pianist-heartthrob. In January, with business at a standstill, Randolph closed up shop. His wife, too, lost her job recently. Randolph is 61 years old.

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

My first job every day is to not fall into despair. After this, I try to find opportunities or at least a bit of hope to get me through the day. Strangely, I remain optimistic, thinking each day our luck will change. (This could just be a foolish stubbornness. I might have to concede this at some point, but then what do I have to fall back on?)

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

Not easy. Sometimes Ambien is available. Waking up in the middle of the night can be a traumatic experience.

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

No more: Health-care insurance, steaks, eating out, buying bottled water, Starbucks, Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, new clothes, going to the cleaners, entertaining, giving your kid a few bucks to hang out with, visits out of town to the grandkids, dental checkups, sporting events, golf, and, soon, cable TV.

Share with us some of your recession gallows humor.

I like to say I’ve been out of business for two years but was too dumb to know it until I closed the doors in January of this year.

THE PEOPLE’S GRAFFITO

Photo by David Lawrence © 2009

ON THE BREADLINE: WAYNE WAKEMAN

Wakeman, of Honolulu, Hawaii, was a pilot for Aloha Airlines, a captain with twenty years’ experience at the company. On March 30, 2008, Aloha shut down operations, putting more than 1,900 employees out of work: the largest mass layoff in Hawaii’s history. “Hawaii at this time last year had the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, at 2.6 percent,” says Wakeman, who has searched in vain for a new airline job. “It is now at 6.5 percent, according to local newspapers.”

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

My motivation is, as the saying goes, “When one door shuts, another is open.” It was hard at first because I had been flying for a total of thirty years, which is half my life, and to have it stop suddenly was quite an adjustment. I had overlapping flying with Aloha Airlines and with the Hawaii Air National Guard, flying F-15 Eagles. As some of my friends would say, I had one of the greatest jobs anyone could have. I was one of the lucky few that could say “I love my job.” Today I just thank God that I still have my health and a special someone that keeps my spirit alive.

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

I have no problem going to sleep at night, even though my mind is going a mile a minute trying to figure out what my next plan of action is. I’m fortunate that I have a pension from the Air National Guard, so I’m not that desperate. However, my unemployment compensation has run out, so now I am living with less and will have to move from my two-bedroom apartment to something smaller and affordable.

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

I needed to start all over again and put together a résumé, which I haven’t needed to do for thirty years, so that was hard. I was planning to upgrade to a later-year truck, as my present one has 173,000 miles and is starting to nickel and dime me to death. Well, I guess I will have to keep my old truck for a while longer. I can’t travel as often as I like because I no longer have any travel benefits since the company folded.

Share with us some of your recession gallows humor.

There isn’t much humor only because everyone here in Hawaii knows Aloha Airlines, and they were as shocked as we, the employees, were. So when they ask where do I work, I say that I was a product of Aloha Airlines and they all make a sigh of sadness and apologize for what happened. I respond by thanking them for their concern but I also say, “I always wanted to know what it’s like to be completely retired and Aloha Airlines gave me that opportunity, and now my golf score is getting better.”

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

At this point, I just live day-to-day and hope that I am going to be successful in whatever it is that comes my way. I don’t think it will be flying because of my age. But whatever it is, I will be great at it.