Monday, August 31, 2009

The Beginning

Almost 2 years ago I realized that my small tutoring business was about to fail, due to early recession problems. I had chosen to open my business in the city, not the suburbs, because the choices for city students are constrained in many ways, and yet they deserve access to quality tutoring. Since I needed to actually make some money from the company, I was careful to pick a city neighborhood with demographics that suggested enough families could afford full rates so that I could charge less to others. And I was succeeding – after almost 3 years I was managing a small profit on some months, with every reason to believe that I was on the way to a thriving business that was also doing good for the area kids.
After the number of new students abruptly dropped off and I had to give up my storefront location, I kept trying to find ways to keep myself afloat, but I have fallen way behind in everything. I am now sick of being alone in this mess, and I know there are all too many others out there who are suffering in many of the same ways as I am. So I am going to take my less than successful blogging in a new direction, and try to start a forum where those of us struggling to survive at various levels can tell our stories and have a shoulder to cry on and someone to laugh our troubles away for the moment, too.
I was inspired by realizing that the few stories I have heard, mainly from the news, about real people who are going through many of the same problems and crises as I am have made me feel less alone, less stupid, and sometimes ashamed to complain when I at least still have a roof. Then I read a book for middle school students, The Revealers by Doug Wilhelm, that is about kids using a network to bring victims of bullies together and help them survive together. Bringing together into a forum other “Recessionaires”, people like me who either have been laid off or lost their business or just can’t get started again largely because of the economy, might be a help to all of us, and might let me feel more like a real person again.
There may be other sites doing this, but a quick search didn’t turn up any. However, searching for blogs is rarely successful for me. I will keep looking, and I hope someone will read this and either join in by telling your own story or let me know where I can share mine. Tell us as much or as little as you wish, but let’s stop being alone in our misery. I admit, my reasons are somewhat selfish – I am honestly sick of all this and I want to find others who will help me break through all this. But I am also firmly convinced that a forum for the temporarily lost could help many of us, maybe even serve as a bridge out of despair. I hope to hear from you soon!