Tuesday, October 27, 2009

How the recession forced me to buy pantyhose

I've been putting off this tale of woe for weeks now but I finally have a spare moment and I suppose it's as good a time as any.

I started my job on the first Friday in October, 1994 and had my last official day on the first Friday in October, 2009. Most people get a raise, an extra week of vacation and maybe some kind of pretty shiny thing for their 15 year anniversary. What I got was let go without the typical 2 week severance pay and in fact my boss owed me 2 months and 1 week of salary plus I don't even know how many months of payments into my 401K plan. Let's not even discuss the nightmare of the 401K plan. Or whether I'll ever see my back pay. On top of it I practically had to beg him to let me go. I'm no genius MBA Business Man type but I do know that if I'm going to work and I'm not working on any actual work and I'm 2 months behind in getting paid and the phone is not ringing at all with any new work that that's not going anywhere good. Plus the other engineer in the office has practically stopped even coming into the office and my boss is not doing anything about it. Not a good sign. My boss wanted to cut my hours in half but he'd already cut my pay significantly so I was effectively being paid for part-time work but being required to work full time hours so half of what I was making was about what I would make on unemployment. And cutting my hours doesn't help if there's still no work to do. I told him please just lay me off and let me collect unemployment because some money coming in is better than going to work for no money and no prospect of money anytime soon. Also, I can move on with my life and maybe, just maybe, somebody out there will have some work for me. And there was the situation with the co-worker not ever coming in for a full day, if at all, and we are struggling with not enough work and my boss cuts my pay and still keeps this unreliable guy on and clients are complaining about him and the whole thing was aggravating and stressful and I'm so glad to be out of that situation. There was a lot of other stuff going on too that was aggravating and stressful, the past 2 years have been rough, but I won't go into that here. Suffice to say it was starting to feel like NADAC where one person is in charge of the game and, well, we all know how that turned out.

The problem is that I'm in the construction industry (structural engineer) and we've been on the front lines of the recession for over 2 years now and it's not supposed to recover for another 3 years. A year ago last June I offered to work part-time because we were so slow (my boss refused). I've been informally looking for work since probably last January but maybe even before that. But there's a reason that my firm had no work and that's because there's very little out there. A big part of the problem is the credit freeze. We had a zillion projects under contract but all of them went on hold in large part because suddenly no one could get financing. Even people who were good risks. The banks took all the stimulus money and sat on it or gave out bonuses or whatever. The bridge engineers are doing o.k. because of the stimulus money for infrastructure but I'm in buildings so that doesn't help me. I'd happily switch to bridges but so far all the places that I've found that are hiring want people with at least 5-7 years of specific bridge experience. A friend suggested working for free for a bridge company at least until the unemployment runs out but the problem is that if I was offered a paying job I'd leave and then I've created some ill will. And is 5 months enough time to build up enough experience to get a real job?

Anyway, it's been 15 years since I've worn pantyhose and that was only to interview for jobs. The 'What Not to Wear' t.v. people were making fun of some poor woman for wearing them and at the time I thought, yay, those horrible things are out of fashion. But now I'm thinking I can't seriously go into a job interview with bare 45 year old knees that looked in their 40's when they were in their 30's can I? We're talking elephant knees being held together by scar tissue and lots of nice blemishes from multiple bouts of frost bite brought on by the super cold ice pack I use on a nearly daily basis. And I bashed my shin into the dishwasher this morning and have a nice long trail of scabs running down the front of my leg. Oh and I have an interview tomorrow. Not for an actual job but a local company liked the look of my resume and wanted to meet in case maybe the economy might improve for reals some day and they might have real work for me. So I consulted my good friend the Internet and it told me that yes, pantyhose are passe and you're a total dork if you wear them unless you're going for a job interview. In that case, yes please wear them, especially if you have 45 year old elephant knees and scabs running down your shin. Phew. For once common sense prevails in the fashion world. Now if only I can learn to walk in heels by tomorrow.

15 comments:

  1. I feel for you. On many levels.

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  2. Elayne,
    I am so sorry you are out of work now. Hopefully it won't be for too long. This economy sucks!!

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  3. Sorry Elayne, quite a bit of a nightmare you have going on. I hope something pans out, or the unemployment checks at least let you buy some Top Ramen and Cereal (we know the rest has to go to the dogs ;)
    And you know, lots of guys LIKE the pantyhose on women, but we don't have to wear them every day! Hang in there!

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  4. That is really too bad--about the company & the job market & having to wear pantyhose.

    On the subject of the 401K payments--if it's money you earned and was earmarked for 401K (as opposed to a voluntary employer contribution), I believe that is way illegal, like stealing or fraud or along those lines. And whether you like the guy or not, you'd want to get in line as soon as you can to try to get some of that back. You might want to contact, I dunno, department of labor?

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  5. Wow, that sucks. I hate panty hose too. I hope something turns up. Diana

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  6. Well, it sounded like this might be coming when I saw you and Julie back in the summer. Good luck on the job hunt; wish I could help you but it's way out of my tiny area of expertise ... I couldn't hang a door much less help design a building.

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  7. Ack! I meant Judy, but you knew that. Sorry.

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  8. Elf-Yeah, the 401K money was my contribution, the situation is highly illegal. But setting the Dept. of Labor on him will only make things worse. If he continues on working with the company with just himself there's a chance I might get some of my back pay. There was a small enough amount of work to keep just him busy. If he declares bankruptcy and/or goes to jail for fraud I'm screwed all the way around. And I'm not sending my over 70 years old boss of the past 15 years to jail. He's paid me a small portion of my back pay and I'm hoping will continue to do so as long as he's working and has money coming in. He's not willfully trying to screw us over, I can't go into the details here publicly but really he's not, at least not so far. But that's why the situation is such a mess, there really is nothing I can do and my 401K is held hostage at that company until he pays into it all that he owes. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is nothing.

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  9. Ed-I can't hang a door either. I'm having a hard enough time painting my house.

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  10. Yikes! Sorry to hear about the unemployment. I was unemployed for almost 8 months back in 2000 when all the dot coms went under... I always interviewed in a pantsuit (no skirts or dresses for me) and it seemed just fine.

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  11. Anonymous12:06 PM

    pantyhose!!! can't you just wear pants? well, a "nice" pantsuit...
    valpig

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  12. Nothing wrong with a pantsuit. Somehow though I'm more comfortable in a suit/skirt, pantyhose and all. I have a hard time getting pants to fit and look nice because I'm short. I would almost certainly have to have them tailored. Plus I found a beautiful Italian wool suit that fits perfectly for only $6 at the Humane Society's thrift store. I had to spend $8 on buttons and 1 1/2 hours worth of time to sew them on (there were 6 and one was broken) but it was worth it. Just call me Queen of the Frugalistas.

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  13. Oh, man! I'm sorry to hear about the job situation ... and the panty hose.

    I'll noodle on it and see if I can come up with anyone I know in the industry that could help.

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  14. I'll echo what everyone else said. Hope things turn the corner very soon.

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  15. Hi! I saw your comment on another blog and I followed the link.

    I am not anti-pantyhose, in fact I love it and I run a pantyhose blog.

    www.fantasystockings.com

    I suggest to buy pantyhose that is 40 den and above. Opaque lasts long and it is more professional for job interviews to wear opaque. At least that's the old British etiquette.

    Jessica

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