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Whether you're an optimist or a pessimist, getting laid off from your job in the shittiest economy in decades isn't exactly swell news, but certainly we live in one of the best cities anywhere to be jobless and broke. In addition to a multitude of cheap food options and pretty parks to sit in and drink beer, there are free outdoor movies and wine country right up the road where some wineries still don't charge for tasting. And there's also the laid back, relaxation-before-ambition ethos that's endemic here and that we all know and love.
This week's piece by Peter Jamison on so-called "Funemployment" in the Weekly trots around some fuzzy ideas about overachieving Millennials being influenced by Gen Xers' slackerdom and coming around to the idea that they should just enjoy themselves while collecting government checks. There's nothing too groundbreaking being said here, but this one hateful pullquote did stand out to us, from a certain well-to-do techie named Grace who writes an overly precious blog called Stuff Unemployed People Like:
"The people I know, nobody's strapped for cash," says Grace, a laid-off tech company worker who splits her time between San Francisco and Sunnyvale... (Among the entries: "Buying Game Consoles with Unemployment Checks," "Buying Perrier with Food Stamps," and "Shunning Public Transportation Because 'It's for Poor People.'"...) "We didn't live above our means. We didn't get involved in the real-estate market. For me, it sucks not to have income, but I'm definitely laid-back enough about it that I can make unemployment work."
You know what, Grace? We think we speak for all the unemployed people who are getting by okay, going to Dolores Park (by bus), catching up on their Netflix but still feeling fairly anxious and screwed by their current predicament when we say, Go fuck yourself.
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I second that...
I third that... and it's a great feeling not to have money for health insurance either.
We think we speak for all the unemployed people who are getting by okay, going to Dolores Park (by bus), catching up on their Netflix but still feeling fairly anxious and screwed by their current predicament when we say, Go fuck yourself.
Barmann, now you know how we feel when we see the endless parade of high-end restaurants reviewed on this site...
Or people like me who are employed but don't have shit and barely make rent every month.
Endless parade? Come now. I, for one, have never done a restaurant review. I believe the last one on the site was well over a month ago. And sure, we have a thing for well-made, expensive cocktails but hey, we all have our spending priorities.
@ Jay Barmann
Sorry. I was under the impression that I saw a ranch dressing fountain in the very previous post. My bad?
Thanks for saying it, Jay, it had to be done.
excellent, jay.
You guys are overreacting to this. A *lot* of young people chose careers with good incomes and saved their money instead of getting into debt with fancy cars and condos. Why did they do that? For this day. They know they'll get back into the working world at some point. But for mow they want to enjoy not working, and if they want to blog about it, God bless 'em. They're not thinking about whether you have it harder than them. They're not trying to make you jealous, and they don't care if you are.
BTW, as a 35-year-old, I can attest that "Gen X slackerdom" was a Ben Stiller movie (and a much smaller Linklater one), not real life. But there are a lot of parallels to today, especially the part where big corporations break their contracts with workers just so they can survive.
"Buying Perrier with Food Stamps," and "Shunning Public Transportation Because 'It's for Poor People.'"
did you read the same thing I did?
i'm glad people saved their money and it would explain why Delfina and Farina and still doing gangbusters business. Its their money and their life. But I think we're suggesting they(her) try to be less of a complete dick about it.
I read the article, and at least one of the girls interviewed lived with three other roommates. You can defer your student loans when you're in a crunch, and with three other roommates, no student loans, and unemployment, you can probably live okay. They'll never have this much freedom again (hopefully) so I have no problem with people who can manage to enjoy this absolutely shitty economy, while our tax dollars go to pay the bills for the AIG/Citibank/BOA executives' private jet bills.
Good for the people interviewed. I for one, want to burn shit down, but that's just me.
You guys are overreacting to this. A *lot* of young people chose careers with good incomes and saved their money instead of getting into debt with fancy cars and condos.
Right. People without student loans who got six figure jobs after graduating with a BA from Stanford. In other words, Chelsea Clinton, a woman I can't stand. You're totally right, though. I mean, anyone who chooses not to be born into rich families is an asshole and they deserve to be mocked, ridiculed, and completely dismissed. Good point.
You think only Stanford BA's make good money? Stanford only graduates so many people. *Most* of the people who work in downtown office buildings went to state schools.
I'd like to see folks like Grace detail whether they paid their own way through college or not.
I do not own a house/condo, drive a 10+ year old Honda, and have no debt other than student loan payments. And with my recent unemployment I'm about to have a stress-induced aneurysm.
And no, I don't own a game console, have suspended my netflix and spend four to six hours a day looking for work.
I applaud anyone who gets through their 20s with no college debt ... please let the rest of us know the secret
Kudos, Jay on a fabulous post!
Although, I have to admit, I read that whole "Stuff Unemployed People Like" and found it entertaining. It also reminded me to return to "Stuff White People Like." Vespas! So true!
return? how could you not have gotten bored of that site after the first chuckle wore off? seriously, homer simpson put the idea to bed about 15 years ago.
What? We haven't all been lifted up by Obama's stimulus spending?
True dat. this chick's got 'daddy's money' written all over her. or should is say tatooed on the small of her back...
Fun-employment, stay-cation. Why it is as if I have no worries at all. And by the way, this is NOT one of the best cities to be jobless and broke in, as the cost of living here is among the highest in the world. May want to think about that before you start writing non-sensical bullshit. Perhaps you are angling for a job at the Chronicle?
true true. But many 20-somethings with shares have cheap rent... And who'd want to be broke and unemployed in, say, Detroit?
They probably don't even have Netflix in Detroit.
I found this rather interesting: http://gawker.com/5278875/get-funemployed ...
In any case, can anyone say Internet Bust? Everyone who thought it was just dandy to spend three months on a thai beach writing a novel ended up coke addicts who had to move back in with mom. And stop beating up on Detroit. Which raises another good point about these lame fake trend pieces: white people. who golf. from yahoo.
if i could only have my unemployment checks forwarded to thailand ..