Eric Takabayashi wrote:
> "John W." wrote:
> 
> 
>>"Elbow" <tokyoelbowNOSPAM@totalise.co.uk> wrote in message news:<c50jbi$2mhpe3$1@ID-220360.news.uni-berlin.de>...
>>
>>>"John W." <worthj1970@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>>>news:40734853.7020407@yahoo.com...
>>>
>>>><insert a ton of bitching>
>>>>
>>>>John W.
>>>
>>>We should start a tag team
>>>
>>
>><b>
>><font size=WAY BIG style=double underline>
>><insert bitch moan complain rant against the subtle and not so subtle
>>prejudices of society that won't hire 34 year olds for entry level
>>jobs gripe about companies that don't understand it's not the
>>employees fault if they get laid off four times in as many years>
> 
> 
> That is really terrible. I can't believe that even Wal Mart or Starbucks would discriminate against people that way.
> My older brother, going on 40, also lost his job and a lot of assets to the IT bust, and is still retraining and
> looking, years later. With the recent focus on "outsourcing" of even IT jobs, I can understand how such things can
> happen, and I doubt many trained people can feel secure in a job again.
> 
From things I've read, what employers feel is that someone with an
advanced degree and/or other advanced training is more likely to leave
than someone with no other real options. Sucks, and unfortunately
there's no way to convince to the contrary.I'm also working on some tech
certifications to quantify what I already know.

> But considering how your wife's future was looking after getting her PhD (was that you?), how do the two of you feel
> about you being the homemaker, perhaps with a part time job with no particular future to supplement your income,
> while your wife earned the money at a more promising job? My brother's wife has what sounds to be a fine career in
> one of the big accounting firms, and I wonder if he has considered staying home for the family.
> 
I'd love to be the homemaker; that's actually why I'd be content with a
job at Starbucks. Her salary is just enough to pay for living expenses;
any emergency would break us. Once she becomes a full-fledged researcher
(right now doing the post doctoral research) we'll be alright.

> I mean no insult. It was and is what many educated women with work experience have done for their families, perhaps
> sacrificing their own careers or happiness. Men have to be prepared to do the same. If my wife were somehow able to
> get about six times what she currently made, or even a little more than I made, I would consider staying home to do
> the housework (I can clean and do laundry as well as my wife, but I'd have to learn to cook) and do something part
> time on my own just to keep me busy or supplement our income. It would be cool to be so different from the other
> families.
> 
No doubt. I was talking with my friend and lamenting the fact that most
likely I will be unable to enjoy my retirement. He said I should
consider myself right now enjoying my retirement. So that's what I'm
trying to do. It is also spurring my desire to go back to Japan for a
year and take my son. There might never be another option for him to
spend a year in Japan, learning Japanese and spending time with my inlaws.

John W.