In advance of President Barack Obama's speech on jobs and unemployment, Yahoo! News asked its readers and contributors to tell us what subjects they'd like to hear Obama address. Below is a first-person perspective from a reader.
[Your Voice: Sign up with the Yahoo! Contributor Network to share your thoughts.]
In 2007, I walked away from a successful career in database design to open a small resale and consignment shop for women. The plan was to ditch the two-hour a day commute for more time with the kids, do something spiritually nurturing and provide an important service for middle-class women like me.
Austin, Texas, is an environmentally progressive city, heavily invested in the principles of reuse and recycling, and there were few quality resale shops in my part of town. I could avoid a large upfront investment in inventory by taking consignments. This made it relatively inexpensive to get started. It seemed like the perfect way to make a living, while shifting my priorities from job to family.
In short order I was ready. I flung my doors open eager to receive the hoards of would be savers and sellers who would no doubt be pouring in. I was met with the profoundest of silence.
Like many who started small businesses just before the recession, my plans didn't quite turn out the way I had expected. So, when President Obama speaks in September about jobs and the economy, I sincerely hope he has some fresh ideas about how to stimulate the economy. The same old bag of tricks isn't going to cut it.
My story is reflective of many struggling businesses in the economy.
It took a couple of years and every penny I could scrape together, but we did eventually build a small but loyal base of customers and consigners. And then came the recession. Suddenly, ladies who used to come in and spend $100 to $200 were only spending $20. People were trying on more clothes than ever, and leaving the dressing rooms piled high, but only bringing one or two items to the register. They had to be careful about what they bought. They had to be sure. There wasn't a penny to spare on an impulse buy or a bad decision.
For a while, we were flooded with incoming merchandise, from people desperate to turn anything they could spare into cash. I had the heart wrenching task of having to tell most of them that I couldn't sell their items because they were too worn, or out of style or damaged. My "spiritually nurturing" job, had turned into a nightmare in which I was the villain doling out disappointment to the people I aspired to serve.
Eventually, the sellers disappeared, just as the buyers had.
At the same time, my ex-husband was laid off. His project lost its funding. He's now a 99er, one of the two million unemployed Americans who have exhausted their benefits.
I hope Obama and his advisers have a plan for the 99ers -- not just to extend benefits -- but to reintegrate them into the work force. The country is a hotbed of unfulfilled needs, and there are 2 million people sitting on their hands, pleading for something to do. Surely there's a way to put the two together -- maybe a works program, like the WPA & CCC during the Great Depression.
Mostly, I'd like our lawmakers to set a good example for all of us by putting aside their enormous egos and focusing on solving the economic crisis together. I will be looking for signs of this in both the president's speech and the Republican response. I hope they don't let me down... again.
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