In 2008 I graduated with my master’s degree in Organizational Leadership. I had been unemployed for the last year of my academic work. We made it through this period pretty easily, even though I had no income, and I didn’t get unemployment either, since I had voluntarily quit my job in September of 2006. During my time of unemployment, I finished my degree and started an at-home travel agency, which I enjoyed doing as well. I knew I would eventually return to regular 9 to 5 work, but as it turns out, it was good that I was unemployed during the fall of 2006, as my mom broke her hip. She ended up recuperating at my place for almost 2 months and I took care of her at that time. I wouldn’t have been able to do this while working and going to school, so everything worked out in that way.
So yes, running the at-home travel agency was fun, but it wasn’t the same to me as having a job in my chosen field of HR. So, as soon as I graduated with my master’s degree and got my SPHR designation, I returned to a more regular work life. I could have continued running the travel agency as a side hustle, but I ended up closing it and focusing on my HR career.
Then, the “Great Recession of 2008” occurred. What a weird time that was. I was still working for the tech company when it hit. It sort of rolled through everything over about an 18-month period. At least, that’s the way I recall it. I didn’t lose my job right away. In fact, we were already almost a year into The Great Recession before that happened. But when it was time for the company I was working for to get a renewed contract with a hospital they staffed with IT professionals, the contract wasn’t renewed. Those people who worked there were really employees of the company I worked for located in the Denver Tech Center, although they lived and worked in Dallas. Because of the recession, we lost the contract to do the staffing for their operation and so we had to lay off over half of our workforce. After I got everyone laid off, I was laid off myself. It was in 2010 when this happened. One of the biggest news stories that happened during the spring of 2010 was The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill – the largest oil spill in history, which started with an explosion on April 20th. That is such a fateful day for so many reasons, but sometimes I still remember that devastation and it’s a wonder to me that they were ever able to clean it up at all. But I digress.
I had owned my home in Westminster, Colorado at that time for about 7 years and had seen little appreciation in its value. The economy was just stagnant during those years, and then the recession hit, and things started rolling backwards. Not only was my home not appreciating in value, but it also started dropping in value. Fortunately, I was never under water on my loan because I had made a large down payment when I purchased it and I had a fixed rate mortgage. That’s the only good news I can come up with for that era. There were several foreclosures in my neighborhood during those years. I was grateful that we were living within our means, but I seriously wanted to do better. But, as fate would have it, I had to wait it out.
Almost a year went by. I applied for jobs and had several promising interviews, but nothing popped. I wasn’t running the travel agency anymore, so I had no source of income again. Besides, the travel business was in a slump because of the recession. I kept on keeping on. What else could I do?
In 2011, I applied for a job at a small, international university in Denver. I knew I was the most qualified person for that job. I had over 7 years of experience working in higher ed HR. I had all the proper credentials, experience, and education. I sent in my resume and cover letter and got no call. Very strange, I thought at the time. A month later, the ad appeared again, and I applied again. Same result. Turns out the woman who was recruiting for the position was a woman who was planning to retire from the position. She had no credentials but had worked her way up through the clerical ranks. She was looking for someone else like her. The position remained unfilled. At some point, the VP of Finance took over the recruitment process, and I got a call right away.
I began going through the extensive interview process. I interviewed with a few people, including the VP of Finance and a committee that included The University Controller. Things seemed promising. I was told that before a decision could be made, I needed to speak with someone important who lived in Japan. An appointment was made for a phone interview, and that appointment was re-scheduled when something came up on his end, I don’t know what. The second appointment was re-scheduled for the same day that the earthquake struck Japan, March 11, 2011. Our interview appointment was re-scheduled again. I almost couldn’t believe that my ability to get a job was suddenly being interfered with by a catastrophe that happened on the other side of the world, but there we were. Another week went by before we could have our phone interview. We were able to have the interview at that time, and I did get the job and started a few weeks later. That’s the way the world is now. It just keeps shrinking. Sometimes it seems like the wheels are turning very slowly, and maybe they are, but they do turn.
In a nutshell, all of this happened because of the sub-prime mortgage meltdown created by greedy bankers who were making loans to unqualified people. They were giving loans to people who couldn’t really afford loans. People were taking out mortgages with zero down and low interest rates, which jumped up a year or so later to monthly amounts they couldn’t afford to pay. Once again, I was grateful that I had taken out a reasonable, old-fashioned mortgage with a fixed rate interest. I knew what my monthly expenses were, and I could budget for them. But millions of people got caught up in this scam, and it affected everyone when it went sideways.
The law of cause and effect is, well, still in effect. We reap the fruits of whatever our decisions are one way or the other. In religion and metaphysics, we call this “the law of circulation” or “karma” or “the law of compensation.” The scriptures describe it this way: “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7-9) To say you’re immune to it as like saying you’re immune to gravity. You may BELIEVE you can fly, but without wings and a jet engine, or maybe some other kind of flying device, (a hot air balloon maybe?) you won’t.
We all have short memories and don’t want to believe that anything of this sort can ever happen again. We’re all a lot smarter now, right? No. I mean, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it can happen again, and it probably will. I don’t know when. Neither do you, but we’re already beginning to see some adjustable rate mortgages again. They’re supposedly set up to make it easier for first-time home buyers to get into the game, but mostly they’re set up this way so you’ll refinance, and some new lender will be able to make money off your loan origination fees and interest rates. It’s easy to become fish food doing this.
I’ll leave you with a beautiful song by today’s poster boy for the law of cause and effect, R. Kelly:
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Journey in Joy
Debby
Adventures on Earth and Beyond 