Funny Panhandling Signs

If you live in a city of any size, you've seen people on offramps with carboard signs panhandling for money.  The majority of people try to ignore the panhandlers, a few people give them money or even food, and an even smaller group of people insults them.  How many of you stopped to wonder how that person with the sign got to be there?  Probably not many.

For a year of my life, I was one of those people with the signs.  That's what I had to do to survive.  How did I get there?  I got there by working 80 to 100 hours a week as a taxi driver.  Not the answer you expected, is it?  On one hand, I gained so much weight working those crazy hours in the taxi that I started having serious health problems.  On another hand, I just couldn't make money in the taxi anymore.  The industry changed due largely to technology, and I just couldn't make it anymore. 

At this point, in early 2016, I'm not homeless.  But I never made a full recovery to a "normal life" either.  I've been living with my mom since my dad died 3 1/2 years ago, and I haven't been able to find I good paying job here in North Carolina, where I live now.  In fact, I haven't even been able to find a crappy, minimum wage job.  I'm not alone.  One article I found last night (from 2014) estimated that the total number of unemployed AND under-employed people in the U.S. at 30 million.  That's 1/10th of the whole country that either can't find a job, or is working below their skill level just to get by. 

This blog is aimed at this huge problem in our country.  How did it get like this?  Why can't these people find jobs?  Where are all the good paying jobs we used to have in the U.S.?  Why isn't anyone creating more jobs for these people?  How do we put these people back to work in the future?  There are a lot of reasons for this.  As someone who's reasonably intelligent, and who is both interested in big picture issues, and who's actually been homeless for an extended period, I'm in a good position to delve into this huge issue.  This blog is about exploring this issue, and working on viable solutions for both individuals in this situation, and intstitutions, organizations, and businesses affected by this issue.  I know this sounds pretty boring, but I'll do my best to make it interesting along the way.  Enjoy.