“Well they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late that month. Ralph went out lookin” for a job but he couldn”t find none. He came home too drunk from mixin” Tanqueray and wine. He got a gun, shot a night clerk now they call ?m Johnny 99.”
Bruce Springsteen sang that song in 1982.
Ninety-nine has a significant meaning today.
People who have run the course of their unemployment benefits, 99 weeks or less, are called “99ers.”
Many of these people are former professionals or experts in their field whose jobs have gone overseas.
Some people bit the bullet and opted for underemployment as opposed to unemployment, taking work wherever work can be found. Some are collecting cans and living communally.
So, you may ask yourself, what does the song have to do with this?
Desperation, that”s what.
One of our county supervisors mentioned to me, a segment that aired on 60 Minutes. It focused on Silicon Valley 99ers.
In 13 minutes, viewers were brought to the understanding that Silicon Valley, once the capital of American innovation, “has a new creation: revival meetings for the unemployed. On weekends, they come by the hundreds,” according to the report.
The story of Marianne Rose, 54, a former financial analyst from a real estate firm, is a prime example of the devastation felt by many wearing the same shoes.
“I remember it coming close to like six months. I was saying, ?I can”t believe I”m out of work this long.” Then the year mark hit. And I just started just panicking seriously. Now that it”s over two years I can”t believe it. I just, I can”t believe it,” Rose told the interviewer, Scott Pelley.
Rose was laid off along with about 100 co-workers. She exhausted her savings, lost her home and ended up staying in a truck with her dog and all of her belongings.
A friend found her a small space in the home of the friend”s brother and sister-in-law.
Thank God for the kindness of strangers.
Rose thought she would be there for maybe two weeks, max.
She told Pelley it has been six months and she said she didn”t see an end in sight.
Now if that doesn”t flatten your self-worth, I don”t know what would.
Hard work, responsible lifestyle and education are certainly no guarantee of success any longer.
Seems everyone is getting the shaft, one way or another.
The lucky ones who have jobs are many times doing work that previously was filled by multiple positions, for a lot less money and more often than not, without the luxury of benefits.
And hey, if you don”t like it, there are probably thousands of people who would be grateful to take that crappy job off your hands.
So slews of people are angry, sad, ill and desperate.
Suicides are becoming more commonplace and aggressive behavior has steadily risen.
If you can do just one thing today, be good to others. Times are tough all over.
“Now judge I got debts no honest man could pay. The bank was holdin” my mortgage and they was takin” my house away. Now I ain”t sayin” that makes me an innocent man. But it was more ?n all this that put that gun in my hand. Well your honor I do believe I”d be better off dead …” Bruce Springsteen, Johnny 99
Mandy Feder is the Record-Bee managing editor. She can be reached at mandyfeder@yahoo.com or 263-5636 ext. 32.
