Fired for Now: Getting fired, laid off, and hired again

A few weeks back I posted about the quintessential recession marketing tool — the T-shirt. You could argue that it’s the most egalitarian form of public self-expression. (Or perhaps it was until blogs appeared.) And that post had some examples that made me laugh-out-loud (like “Scumbag Millionaires”).

You don’t need to have big bucks to pay for media. You don’t have to rely on some editor somewhere to judge your letter as print-worthy. You just have to lay put on a shirt and take to the streets. Herewith, Part … Continue Reading

I’ve never taken a class in economics and my eyes glaze over at a page of tables and numbers, so anything that helps me make sense of the current economic mess is appreciated.

When it explains that mess so thoroughly, at a pace that makes the minutes disappear and entertains as well, it’s a not-to-be-missed documentary for our times. That’s the film I.O.U.S.A.

Some critics have said I.O.U.S.A. is to the U.S. economy what An Inconvenient Truth was to the environment. It’s taken the dry subject of economics and cogently explains how the … Continue Reading

Of course it would happen. But these shirts make me smile.

T-shirts are like walking personal billboards. If you wear a big brand logo across your chest, that says one thing. Wear a shirt with a statement, it’s entirely different. Enjoy. (And if you want, buy them, and others, at Zazzle.com.)
… Continue Reading

A collection of cartoons from The New Yorker dating back to 1992.
Yes, we’ve been here before.

Published in The New Yorker 2001

Published in The New Yorker 1996

Published in The New Yorker 1994

If you watched the Golden Globe Awards last weekend, you may have seen a new Monster.com commercial. It’s part of a just-launched ad campaign accompanying the launch of Monster’s rebuilt web site. And according to the ad agency behind it, (BBDO New York), in the face of massive layoffs, people just want to laugh. (You can watch it here at nytimes.com.)

Now, that could be true. Attendance at movies is up as it was during the … Continue Reading

$4 Lattes. $8 Glasses of wine. $20 Lip gloss. $60 Video games. Get the picture?

Whether you’re newly unemployed or still collecting a paycheck while your long-term-savings have been eviscerated, day-to-day life in our new economy can mean the same thing: your spending habits have been pushed to top-of-mind consciousness in a whole new way.

Certain things, of course, are indispensable. But what about the countless things we spend money on that we don’t really need?

Everyone loves to point to the 4-buck latte as the quintessential example of throwing-good-money-after-an-overpriced-indulgence. But last time … Continue Reading

You have a bullet-proof resume, stellar references, and you just aced the interview with the HR manager for the job you really, really want to get. But you don’t get it.

Who knew that sharing would come back to bite you and leave a huge black mark on your job application? After all, we all grew up being reminded over and over that sharing is a good thing.

Well, it turns out some companies are now using social networking sites to check out job candidates. And social media has made it easier than … Continue Reading

Turning tragedy into comedy.  Iowa artist and comedy writer Andrew Shaffer saw the opportunity and developed a line of holiday cards featuring Depression-era photographs of soup lines and the homeless. It’s dark humor, but don’t feel guilty. It’s good to laugh.

To see Andrew’s whole line of cards visit: DepressingTimes