March 26, 2004 1:46 PM

The anonymous voice of America's unemployed
Posted by Jason Butlerat 1:46 PM

A columnist for the Arizona Republic gets a voice mail from a recently laid-off woman.

"I'm calling in, and I'm promising myself not to cry," says the woman on the phone. Even as she says this, however, her voice quivers. She often hesitates as she speaks, seemingly to compose herself.

"You always write about things that are going on and the current events," she continues. "I'm wondering, has anybody noticed in America all of us that are unemployed? I'm 43 years old, and I've been working since I was 16. My husband is 45. We've been married 22 years, and we've always worked. A year ago I lost my job. Six months ago his job was outsourced to India. We have three children, one that's 18. We were going to try to help them get through college but, um . . . anyway, I was just wondering. There are so many of us and people don't seem to notice what's going on.

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