Fortune telling, repairing shoes, and selling bread: How to survive hard times

Fortune telling in Singapore

20 years ago a man sitting on Jackson Square reading tarot cards offered what he considered sound advice for getting through hard times.  Originally from Russia, where he had been a circus performer, then trained as a technical support person with computers, he had lost his job and like others in the same position had to find some way to make a living.  So he and his wife opened up shop telling fortunes in many languages on a street corner in New Orleans, making what he observed was a good living doing what he said people in Russia did during post-World War II hard times.

Edward R, whose name has long been forgotten in the years that have passed since a journalist watched and wondered about how a man of obviously good intelligence ended up on the streets of New Orleans reading tarot cards.  His lesson on re-inventing oneself, however, is timely and appropriate, in spite of the years that have passed since Russian hard times and how much jobs have changed.

What Edward said was this:  Those who told fortunes, repaired shoes and sold bread were the ones who survived economic hardships.  These are, of course, concrete suggestions, but on another level they are symbolic of what someone needs to do in order to make money when the economy is in crisis.

Telling fortunes with tarot cards is a skill someone can learn in a matter of days, if not hours, at least with an instructional guide.   Someone who tells fortunes must show some level of accuracy, and to be accurate must be observant of people behavior.  That way the fortune can match the person.  Most people enjoy knowing something good but more than that something he or she believes is particularly special and secret.  When that secret is revealed, then the magic becomes real.  The fortune teller looks at facial expressions, clothing, and listens to introductory remarks as well as observing other details that might include the behavior of the person's companion, the style of speech, and even the way an individual holds the body and gestures.  All of this adds up to good generalizations that might fit almost anybody but become more tailor-made by the fortune tellers ability to analyze the appearance and behavior and provide that good fortune for the customer.  But more than just fortune-telling, it is what it represents that matters.

The fortune teller offers hope, the ability to unlock secrets, to bring something somewhat mysterious and different into everyday life.  That fortune teller can be the inspirational speaker, musician, poet, teacher, counselor who has thethe art ability to use the best of the fortune teller qualities to enhance existing skills and get the job.  The motivator, the person who says he or she can help you when everyone else seems unwilling to try, and that offers a different way of doing things can often be the individual hired for the job.  The fortune teller is also entertaining in a creative and different way and gives people something they can take with them.  Entertainment that offers good memories, something to savor at the moment and then again later, is often the kind people look for when they have little themselves, as it offers an escape.  So activities that allow people to experience diversion from their everyday lives can often lead to a profitable enterprise.

The person who repairs shoes represents those businesses that accent retaining and reusing materials.  Second hand stories even in uptown neighborhoods can prosper during hard times as people look for bargains without having to spend as much money.  That designer dress that is not affordable new can be found somewhat worn but still attractive. So chic can mean a dress at a second-hand store.   The chair outside the antique store might need a new cushion, so those who sell fabric and easy instructions for recovering furniture can also be successful in hard times.

Finally those who sell food, especially the basic necessities, are clearly in demand much of the time.  When times are hard, however, those basics are the first items people look for in grocery stores.  Folks will reach for the bread and rice and potatoes that can fill the stomach and not harm the pocketbook.  Special breads that offer a special taste but still aren't expensive can do well.    But those who sell bread are more than just sellers of bread.  They represent folks who offer items people need frequently and must have in order to survive.  And they offer the fundamental items that are particularly important when people can't afford luxuries.

The wisdom of the fortune-teller offers advice we can all use during hard times.  In his case, his grandmother had once told fortunes in Russia; and she had helped support the family during hard times.  Using his wisdom others can find economic justice and that special niche to survive and even prosper.

Food stamp use growing among college educated

[caption id="attachment_22561" align="alignleft" width="150"] food stamp program[/caption]

In the new economy many of the big users of food stamps are college graduates or have some college training.  Is this because the folks are particularly bright because they went to college so they can scam the system with aplomb?  No, it's because more and more young people with sheepskin can't find jobs.  Or they are starting out with jobs that pay so little or are part time, so they fall at the level of subsistence where they qualify for food stamps.  And still others have fallen through the cracks during the recession and its aftermath.

Five percent of those who use food stamps are college graduates.  28% have some college training.

It's a sad commentary on affairs, with everyone wanting a son or daughter to attend college, that without specialization many young people end up working in service positions, as clerks somewhere, many in the same kind of jobs they could have had when they finished high school.  Many young people end up being unable to find jobs and are saddled with debt.

To add insult to injury, the cost of college is getting more and more costly, so many young people end up with the kind of debt they can't get out from under, since student loans have to be paid back and can't be erased by bankruptcy.

The next time you believe some commentator that the welfare mother is at it again, trying to have a bunch of babies to live on the dole and collect food stamps and live the easy life.  Think again, because that person in the front of the line might be your neighbor's son or daughter, just trying to get by until they can find a job that pays something more so he or she isn't forced to live on so little they qualify for food stamps.  And it turns out they will be getting less, because the new farm bill would cut food stamps by 1%.

Tattoo art popularity soaring during recession

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Carol Forsloff - “It’s for my birthday, and could your husband design a tattoo for me?” A man who does oil paintings scratched his head, then shook it firmly, “Don’t think so, since I like to do big stuff, but I guess everyone has an idea of what is fashion and art these days,” he concluded, an observation an expert recently made as he and others answered the top 5 questions related to modern tattooing.

Asia’s largest organization of tattoo artists form what is called Tattoo Temple Hong Kong where the important tips and topics on tattoos were addressed, as tattoo art is becoming more and more popular with millions of people around the world.

“So, does it hurt?” is that first important question.  Tattoo artists explain the amount of pain depends on what part of the body is being marked and what pain level is identified by any given person, as individuals are different in their perception of pain.  Knees, feet or neck are more painful than the back, for example.

“Should the tattoo be big so it doesn’t fade as fast?”  The expert tells us

The durability of the tattoo depends upon the skill of the artist and how the tattoo is treated afterward by the wearer.

“Is there a numbing cream?” the fearful ask.  The answer is no, as there is no such thing as pain-free tattooing according to the experts.

“How about my own special design for a tattoo?  Can you make one for me?”  That is the ultimate question for the expert, as the designer needs the customer to be as specific as possible.  The random, open question does not give enough detail to provide the basics to get started.

Business hasn’t overlooked the popularity of tattoos, as parlors are springing up in big cities and small towns across the world.  In fact, the industry is thriving in spite of the recession.  Jonathan Lalut, the shop manager at a Element Tattoo Company is quoted by AZ business explaining out how widespread tattooing has becomes as “it’s not all about drunk teens and bikers anymore.”  He went on to discuss how an entire family came in for tattoos, mom, dad and teens.

Tattoos have become increasingly popular since the 1970’s as people have become edgier and more tolerant, experts tell us.   The American Society of Dermatology conducted a survey that found one in four Americans between the ages of 18 and 50 have a tattoo.  Tattooing has become one of the fastest growing markets today, keeping pace with the electronics industry in what’s “in” these days for those who want to be a part of the modern vanguard of what’s happening.

Report says women still long way from reaching employment equity

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Carol Forsloff - "The empowerment of women starts from the day they walk into the workplace, all staff should be treated as future managers, and have access to the same opportunities. Losing 50% of the pool of candidates for senior roles is ludicrous, and can lead to serious skills shortages in the upper levels of management,” says Stuart Bray about the lack of equity for women in the workplace.

The problem is an international one. Despite women’s achievement in education  and employment, women have not yet reached full equity in work status according to the Equality and Human Rghts Commission’s recent report.

What the report found is that long working hours are common for women in the private sector. There remains, in that regard, what the Commission states is an “anti-family” culture in most work situations. Women still have to balance work and family life. The absence of women at senior levels is in part due to that anti-family culture.

Bray, who is Business Development Manager of an organization that calls itself 360 diversity, states, “Employers need to start focusing upon making the work life balance a priority for all staff, to enable parents of either gender to participate fully in both the home and the workplace. 360 diversity is a tool that workplaces can use to start addressing the needs of all staff, gain consultation, and positively promote vacancies, including senior management posts to everyone."

What Bray maintains is that at the current rate, gender equality won’t be achieved for 70 years, despite the fact there have been improvements made in employment. 360 diversity tells us that imbalance must be achieved through equality and diversity policies. One of the principal ways of achieving gender equality is through greater flexibility in working hours that allow women to achieve and still manage home obligations.

Despite the Equal Pay Act, which is similar to employment laws in the United States, the wage gap between men and women is so great that The Guardian reports equity won’t be reached until the year 2067.

Recent US statistics reveal that women earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. On the other hand, childless women earn 90% of men’s pay. This substantiates the findings made in Great Britain that women’s opportunities are limited by lack of flexibility in work schedules. The fact that there seems to be a reduction in the gap between men and women also may come from the fact that lower paying jobs have a higher rate of dropout, leaving those women left in the workforce at the higher level wages.

Despite the fact women are gaining in employment in comparison with men in obtaining work, the pay differential means that the family that depends upon the woman’s income is doing less well than if the income was from the male head of the family.

Rep. Fleming at fault if La. man doesn't get Soc. Security

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Carol Forsloff - Robert Jordan is one among millions of senior citizens who could be impacted by a government default, and he points the finger of blame where many are sending it these days: straight to the right flank of the Republican Party.

Jordan works part-time for the Veterans Administration as a mental health counselor.  He is retired in Louisiana and supplements his income, as many seniors do, with part-time work.  Still Social Security income is part of that retirement plan, that promise he and other seniors were given for income after a lifetime of earnings contributions.  Now it hangs in the balance if Congress does not pass the budget.  He says he will blame Representative John Fleming of Louisiana, one of the House Republicans considered on the right wing of the plank.  Fleming has been  on Fox News discussing his position which is in line with the newest members of Congress, for no new taxes yet massive cuts in spending for programs like Medicare and Social Security.  Fleming is also on record against the health care programs and at one time agreed with someone at a forum in Natchitoches, Louisiana that the nation reconsider federal banking, something that was part of the civil war agenda.

Most Americans agree with Jordan, that it is the Republicans who are taking the most extreme position by listening to their most rightward flank.  These are the 80+ freshman class, many supported by the Tea Party, who took a pledge not to raise taxes for whatever reason.  This means no negotiation.  No negotiation, experts tell us, means a budget impasse and a debt crisis in less than a week.

Jordan is one of the lucky ones, however.  For 26% of senior Americans Social Security is their only source of income, according to the Council on Aging.  Then there is the ugly spectacle of seniors unable to get medical care during an economic catastrophe, as they may not have the means to pay for it.  While many seniors have already been impoverished in the downturn of the recession, they face even more devastation financially from the possibility of losing Social Security and Medicare at a time when they are most vulnerable.

As some people say, it is playing chicken with the ones who can’t get in the game at all because they no longer have the ability or the social recognition to play as well.

The media present the politicians point of view, but few ask those seniors how bad it is for them now and how much worse it can be.  Jordan sent the media an email, as the impetus for this article.

As for the blame?  Jordan has followed through with President Obama’s request.  He has pointed the finger at his Representative,  John Fleming, a man who ran against Obama even though he was only running for the House of Representatives and whose word for social support systems is “socialism,” a term used frequently by the right-wing plank of the Republican party.

What Jordan hopes, and millions of others of his certain age do too, is that Congressional members will put their ideological views on hold in favor of what surveys of Americans want now:  raise the debt ceiling so seniors don’t suffer more.

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This article is in response to a letter from a reader, as this site has no specific political category but addresses the issues.  Jordan is concerned about an issue that faces the country, specifically senior Americans, and like millions of seniors asks for a voice in the debate.  This article is in recognition of that voice to raise the debt ceiling and prevent a crisis.

Oregon employment: the changing dynamics in 'demand' occupations

[caption id="attachment_5825" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Oregon Institute of Technology (wikimedia commons)"][/caption]

Carol Forsloff - Oregon’s employment has been higher than the national average until recently, when new figures released on June 14 show a percentage of 9.3 unemployment, which is not statistically significant when compared with the US rate of 9.1% according to a new release on employment figures for the State of Oregon.    So where is Oregon on the list of states with respect to demand occupations and growth potential?

Wages have declined slightly since figures were reported last month, and construction as well as leisure and hospitality jobs have decreased, as service jobs have risen.  This is the first time since 2008 that Oregon has been close to the national average in employment.

Rick Neuman wrote in the Money section of US News that there is no such thing as recession proof jobs, but to the extent there is potential for growth, Silicon Valley continues to see Oregon and Washington as key areas for high tech industrial expansion. The Silicon maps have highlighted Oregon as a place where technology continues to be in high demand.  Silicon Maps is described as a  firm that highlights where certain industry clusters occur regionally.  The firm has pointed out the continuing growth of high tech in the Northwest as part of its promotional campaign recently.

So high tech remains one of those areas where jobs continue to occur, but Neuman’s assertion is that demand occupations are only in demand at certain times, and that the tempo of employment can change.  This means a job may be in high demand at one time and have cutbacks later as they become oversupplied with people who move to these occupations.

In Oregon at the present time service jobs and technology appear to have the best outlook for employment,  but these are areas that Educational Portal maintains are likely bets for jobs until 2014.

• Slot Key Persons


• Gaming Cage Persons and Booth Cashiers


• Chiropractors


• Court Reporters


• Gaming Dealers


• Medical Assistants


• Gaming Cage Workers


• Court Reporters


• Gaming Supervisors


• Personal Financial Advisors

But as Neuman points out these demand occupations can change as new workers move to fill job openings.

Recession comeback: Hawaii Calls

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Carol Forsloff - If you have ever played a part of Hawaii's journey,  you will remember it.  For recession's pains might bring its hurt to paradise, but Hawaii calls and you must always go, as anyone would with dreams and thoughts of home.

"Welcome home," an old friend said. "And home it will always be, if not in fact in memories that never fade no matter the passing of time.

That time was brought back fresh and new in the faces of those old friends.  Some of these are the living and breathing ones, that one remembers through a look, a touch, the sounds of voices that like magic still remain in the place I lived for nearly 30 years.  Others are the sights and sounds only Hawaii brings.

The beauty of Hawaii, its land and all its folks resides in the belief that all things are connected in their making, with God the centerpiece.

In the coming weeks you too can take that journey, here  and wherever this author writes, until you feel in some ways you too have played your part on that journey to paradise.

The picture here  is that piece of it, with so much more to tell.  The end of a day's journey, on a week's return has come.  Hawaii is a respite for a moment much too brief or comes to those who only want to dream.

Media-made Dixie highlights how recession folks can learn from thesimple life

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NEW ORLEANS- Judith Martin - Did the sharecroppers, small farmers, and small town people of the late 19th and most of the 20th century in the South know something we 21st century American moderns could learn from?


Jack Temple Kirby, in his 1979 book Media-Made Dixie: The South in the American Imagination (LSU Press), seems to  believe so as he dissects the history of the media representations of post-Civil War life in The South in the United States of America. Put simply, his main thesis (in 1979) was that everyone from D. W. Griffith "Birth of A Nation" to Alex Haley "Roots", consistently overlooked a whole swath of Southern society.

To summarize: The media persisted in rehashing the myths about the South, of the benign plantation on one side, and sleazy nymphomaniacs and mental  cases on the other.

Kirby pointed out abundantly that what the media failed to acknowledge was that a lot of the population of The South was made up of sharecroppers (of all races), small farmers, and small town people.

It was not until the 1960s and 1970s, wrote Kirby, that the media discovered rural and small town America. TV programs like "The Andy Griffith Show" and "The Waltons" set out to examine the way people "out in the country" could cope with problems, and usually succeed in solving them.

What the TV producers discovered was one of the main strengths of sharecroppers, small farmers, and small town people was a sense of family among themselves -- that extended out into the surrounding community. The upholding of the family was of prime importance, and even routines like calling "Good night" to each other in one household made for very strong ties. If there was a  problem, the family usually faced it together.

More "surprising" was that rural people had a sense of "place". They identified themselves with their farm, their town, their county, as the hub of their existence. These were the places they cared about most, and respected as a part of each individual's identity.

What was sometimes hard for the media to come to grips with was the fact that these folks embraced a simplicity of life with which they were perfectly happy.

Unlike "big city folk" who seemed always to be out buying more showy and expensive clothes, houses, cars, and the like, the country folks were content with being comfortable, even if that meant once in a while looking "down at the heel". But everyone was "family", from the sheriff's office to the folks who lived up on "Spencer's Mountain".

Kirby closed his analysis of Media-Made Dixie by saying that Americans as a whole were losing touch with that part of their culture that values family (immediate and community), place (home), and comfort, rather than pretense and show. But once that is gone, overwhelmed by strip shopping malls and fast food outlets, and highways that bypass a slower pace of life, it may be next to impossible to regain it.

And that is the lesson we American moderns can certainly learn: To treasure and respect the basic, good things in life that really no money can buy:  Family, home, and the simple life.

Recession changes folks' outlook on what they would do if they won alottery

LIVONIA,
Mich.,PRN -- GHN News Editor - You get the call: "You won the lottery."  What will you do
with those winnings.  A survey of people finds those answers, finding
most people would be conservative with their winnings.

 According to the results of a study conducted by Market Strategies the first thing most people would do is pay off their debt.

Experts
show this shows a shift in the thinking of consumers, in the sense that
more and more people are trying to live within their means.

 Paying off debt was the top choice of consumers,
regardless of income level, with over one-third responding that it would
be the first thing on their list should they be lucky enough to win the
lottery in a survey conducted September 23 - 29.

Mark Willard,
senior vice president of Market Strategies' Financial Services Division
says this about the survey outcomes and paying one's debt first:  "We
believe this to be a long-term effect of the recent economic challenges
and perhaps the most fundamental change in economic outlook since the
Great Depression," he said.

The next six choices, in order of popularity, seem better aligned with traditional dreams of riches:

• 25 percent would buy a house


• 15 percent would either (a) help family and friends, or (b) save or invest (tie)


• 11 percent would buy a car


• 10 percent would take a vacation


• 6 percent would help others or donate to charity

"Surprisingly, the age of the respondent has little effect on the choice," said Willard.  "Every respondent from age 30-70 chose to pay off debt first.  Only Gen Xers (age 21-29) put it second, behind buying a house.  Of course, that seems logical in that they may not yet have been able to purchase a home at their age."

Market
Strategies' Consumer Financial Outlook study was conducted online
through uSamp, with 2006 respondents from U.S. consumers between the
ages of 21-70. Margin of error is /- 2 percent.

Recession, unemployment dramatically increases risk of suicide

Carol Forsloff - Science finds a two to three times risk
of suicide in the mentally healthy population when a person is
unemployed.  The rate of long-term unemployment makes suicide a serious
issue, becoming increasingly pronounced in 2010.

Long-term unemployment means loss of homes, places to live, loss of contacts from

loss of communication devices and loss of self-concept.  With this comes
depression, without financial resources for help.

In an aimless circle, an individual is at risk for suicide, especially when there seems to be no end in sight, as CNN reported earlier this year regarding long-term unemployment.

We
all have heard about people jumping out of windows when the stock
market crashed in the 1920's.  Now there are stories on unemployment
forums of people who have killed themselves because the circle of despair, they believe, leaves them no alternative.

What
happens is that depression turns to anger, which is the face of
feelings of despair.  Anger is then displaced on families, friends and
even on talk forums, increasing even more the sense of frustration and
isolation.  That anger is often associated with workplace issues, either on the job or out of work and reflections on what one has lost in comparison with those who are still working.

That
person who looks through the proverbial window and sees satisfied
workers, feels isolated and angry.  It is that type of person who can
also "go postal" and rather than turn the violence on themselves, turn
it against others as well.

Last year Sodahead,
a well-known online newspaper - blog, reported on what they observed to
be a particularly horrendous event. "What a tragedy! The bodies of five
small children and their parents, all shot to death, in two upstairs
rooms of the family's home. The father shot and killed his 5 children,
wife, and then shot himself. The man left a note saying, "With no job
and 5 kids, better to end our lives." He also said on the note that he
blames his former company for getting laid off. Officials say man killed
family after he and his wife were terminated from jobs."

The
unemployment figures continue to stay high in the present recession,  as CNN reports,
with long-term unemployment growing.  This, mental health experts

declare, is a serious problem that needs to be addressed by communities.

In unemployment, financial meltdowns the role of fathers changing

Carol Forsloff - More and more dads are staying at
home not out of choice but because of unemployment, and the changing
role has created new tasks, new decisions and new stresses.


"80% of the layoffs have affected
men.  Some have chosen simply to stop looking for a job and stay home
and be the caregiver.  Others are forced into making that choice. " Attorneys from the Abbott firm outlines this change as a positive.



The role of fathers had been
changing before this but has speeded up even more during a time when
many fathers are out of work.  And lawyers who work with couples, either
through divorce or arbitration meetings and reconciliations, tell us
that fathers are increasingly involved in the decision-making and
care-giving related to children.  Often they get custody in a divorce
because they can demonstrate a primary role, although that still remains
a struggle.



 The idea that mothers alone are
responsible for the bulk of child rearing is changing, and the world is
more accepting of fathers who choose to be more involved.  Society has
benefited from this from the special point of view that fathers provide,
the more play and less coddling to foster independence.



The increase in fathers'
involvement with their children has also resulted in a growing expansion
of co-parenting and joint parenting plans, or even fathers being
awarded custody during establishment of divorce agreements. 



An attorney tells us, "This ensures
the father's contributions are accounted for when deciding what are the
"best interests of the child."

Five spiritual lessons from Scrooge for tough economic times

 

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Carol Forsloff - When we think of the old Christmas tale of Scrooge at Christmas, we think of a shrewish old man who got his lessons from the spirits, but through hardship; but there is more to that old Scrooge tale and others like it that teach us about surviving hard times.

 

The poverty of 19th century era England  has been described in the works of Charles Dickens, and Reverend Cheryl Kincaid uses the lessons from this story to talk about how they can be used to guide our way through the continuing effects of the worldwide recession.

“Anxiety against poverty can makes us as calloused as Ebenezer Scrooge. Charles Dickens used the word Ebenezer purposely to address the church.  The word Ebenezer is taken from 1 Samuel 1:12, meaning “the Lord has brought us thus far,” says Reverend Kincaid.

 

Kincaid goes on to explain what this means further, “In Dickens day the church sought to shut out the poor through the poor law of 1834 which locked the poor out with prisons and workhouses. Now in the name of liberty and fear of economic apocalypse we might be doing the same thing, and be tempted self righteously lock our doors and eat a gruel nervously by the fire, and respond by muttering to ourselves, as Scrooge did, ‘are there no workhouses!

Here we are 150 years after Dickens times, and in far too many places, there are still children stealing for food money like Oliver Twist and working families without the means to get health care for their kids like Tiny Tim,” says Reverend Kincaid, the author of  Hearing the Gospel through Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” (2010 Cambridge Scholars Publishing).

 

Many of the messages given in the tale of Scrooge are appropriate today, Kincaid continues, "With so many conservative Christian voices fearfully crying out against any governmental intervention, perhaps we should listen to some Christian voices who in the past spoke out against shutting our doors to poor because of our own self interests.  Charles Dickens reminds us, as the Old Testament prophets did, no lock is so strong that it will keep protect us from the haunting and from the misery of poverty that we allow in our world. "

Kincaid is making media appearances to discuss what she calls the “Five Lessons We Can All Learn from Spirits who visited Scrooge” as well as her book, which is receiving praise from both religious and secular readers for illustrating how we can use A Christmas Carol to learn the lessons of not only finance, but hope, faith, peace, love and joy.

Mark Strauss, a professor at San Diego’s Bethel Seminary underlines how useful stories can be for giving lessons and that “Cheryl Kincaid has produced a fascinating and insightful reading of the lessons of Advent through the lens of one of the most beloved of Christmas stories, Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol. Preachers and teachers will find here a treasure trove of ideas for teaching and preaching, and every reader will be inspired to reflect on the great redemptive themes of Christmas embedded in Dickens' classic story."

 

 Reverend Cheryl Kincaid is currently the Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Clifton New Jersey.