The Next American Dream
What's in your future?Reporter's notebook: Sarah Gardner
I'm on my cell phone in Ohio interviewing economist Robert LaLonde in Chicago. We've got a poor connection. But when he says the following, I hear him loud and clear:
"This notion of lifelong learning is a very important concept we need to emphasize to everyone in our economy. You have to be constantly learning new skills and trying out new things in order to be in a position to reinvent yourself when you have to."
I finish the interview, thank Professor LaLonde politely, and break out in a sweat. I should be thinking about how I'll use this quote in my story about Jim and Ginger Buford, the former manufacturing workers I'm profiling. Instead, I find myself counting on two hands all the "new things" I haven't tried. (Why didn't I sign up for that adult education class in Web design? Why did I listen to my teenage daughter when she told me I was too old for Facebook? How come I still can't operate the remote?)
I realize I've never had a serious sit-down with myself about this. After all, it's easier to write about other people starting new careers than to tax my brain cells figuring out just what the heck I'd be good at other than radio. When you've been working in a profession for as long as I have (don't ask), you get pretty comfortable. Too comfortable. Learning new skills or trying something different means you just might be the most clueless one in the room. It means evenings doing homework instead of watching "30 Rock." It means risking failure.
Thirty minutes after this professional panic attack I realize I have good role models in some close friends. There's Joanna, a former Wall Street bond trader who's now in nursing school. There's Sonni, a former newspaper journalist now reinventing herself in the world of policy research. And there's Chaille, a singer/actress now trying to break into L.A.'s hyper-competitive voiceover business. These women are also raising children, too. Maybe I could handle a Thursday night Web class after all.
Ginger Buford told me when she and her husband experienced their first manufacturing layoff she learned a valuable lesson: "Nothing is for certain."
She immediately started saving every penny she could so they'd have a cushion if they got laid off again. They did. And that's when the Bufords decided it was time to learn some new skills. Ginger said she "almost had a nervous breakdown" when she had to go back to school after decades working in factories. She'd never written an essay. She rarely used computers. Now, Ginger's fluent in Microsoft Power Point and Publisher and helping her husband through algebra.
I fly back to California with a different quote ringing in my ears. Something Ginger said in the last few minutes of our interview in her immaculate Midwestern kitchen. It's her advice to anyone trying to find a new job or reinvent themselves in middle age:
"Don't be afraid. And when you need help, ask for it."
--Sarah Gardner
Your American Dream
Insights from people in our Public Insight Network
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The next Dream I hope will be one that is not based on a notion of solely individual success and achievement, but one that acknowledges the social nature of success.
Erin Silverstein, Brooklyn, N.Y.
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Almost none of my peers expect to do as well as our parents did, or at least not better than they did. Our "American Dream" has been both altered and downsized.
Liza Barry-Kessler, Milwaukee, Wis.
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I'd like to see a return of the middle class. Remember them?
Lorie Johnson, Sherwood, Ariz.
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Times have changed and the American Dream is no longer relevant today. The American Dream needs to evolve to this changing planet of overpopulation and excess materialism.
Faraz Hussain, Peoria, Ill.
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The next American Dream would be self-sufficiency and sustainability, spirituality, inclusiveness, education and art. Less greed and "keeping up with the Joneses."
Anna Ayres, Appleton, Minn.
Support
Support for The Next American Dream is provided by the Kendeda Sustainability Fund.
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