Frontline's Close to Home

Just finished watching an amazing Frontline episode. Titled "Close to Home," it takes place in a hair salon on the East Side of Manhattan, where you hear the hard luck stories of client after client. Most of the people featured had good paying jobs at some point, but many have lost their jobs and even many of those who still have jobs have fallen on hard times. Probably the most poignant is Rob, who a year after losing his job as a high paid human resource executive still gets tears in his eyes as he tells the story of the day he was fired. A good chunk of the show follows his truly Sisyphean struggle to find a job, as we are taken to a series of networking sessions, job interview classes and his explanation of his never ending struggle. At the end we are told 18 months after losing his job, he is still unemployed. The owner herself is in danger of losing the salon, while her sister in Florida, who has come up to help, is about to lose her house in Florida. The sister has had to take in four borders, and they all have a hard luck story. One of the guys, now in his fifties, used to be a dancer with the Florida Ballet, and was lost his house two days after his wife died. Anyone contemplating leaving a job should watch http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/closetohome/?utm_campaign=homepage&utm_medium=proglist&utm_source=proglist


Hell, if I had watched I might not have quit my job. I mean, I'm glad I did because I know it was the right thing to do. But in all honesty, I might have hung on if I had viewed this earlier. It's that powerful. Of course, maybe it has a special impact because now I am in that position whereas before I could only theoretically conceive of it. In any case, these people are all working much harder at finding a job then I know I am capable of. And the thing is, none of them had found any work. These are all people around my age or a little older and their prospects are not good. It was sobering, depressing.

It certainly makes my upcoming trip to New Zealand seem frivolous and wasteful. But preparations are made. So I tell myself this is a gift to myself to prepare me for the harsh reality that will confront me when I return.