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Any good books about 'stone soup' days?

Catch — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 15:34:40 -0800

I'd like to read some good books, preferably autobiographical, about managing a household in hard times. For purposes of 'professional development' and generally cheering myself up about being the housewife in a single-income family, I have a craving to read good books about successful living on low resources.

Please recommend some! First-hand accounts preferred - depression-era, wartime, or just circumstantial modern hard-times.

Ne'er-do-well needs a job. Bit terrified.

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:51:33 -0800

Never really worked before. Soon to be single mother. Need career. Told I can write well. What can I do? I'm in my 30s but I've never been in the working world. I'm in the process of leaving my severely alcoholic husband. We have a very young child. I don't need a job tomorrow, but relying on alimony for the rest of my life is not a great idea.

I have never wanted a career. I have no idea what to do.

I have maybe 35% of a BA, and I defaulted on my student loans so loans are not an option now. There is an outside chance that with a great deal of good luck with the alimony, generosity from my parents, etcetera, I might be able to go back to school part-time in the years between now and when my child starts school, but I've got no idea what I might study.

Over the years I have complained to counsellors, to a widely published advice columnist, to a friend who works full-time as a writer, to all manner of people, about being unemployable. The answer has always been a scoffing one: but that's ridiculous; you write so well. Anybody who can write as well as you isn't unemployable.

Work-averse as I am, I'm up to doing what's necessary to get myself ready to generate a respectable, stable income for my daughter. But I have no idea where to start. I have to stress here that I have absolutely nothing to put on a resume. No formal volunteer work, nothing. Over the years I've dabbled in all sorts of dilettantish unpaid stuff, but nothing has stuck. I have no experience, no qualifications.

I have no idea what to do with the endless "But you can write; of course you can work" "answer" to this. Even my father threw that at me, which gave me pause. Writing skills and 95c will get me a bus ticket, so far as I can see it. The comments are based on things like letters and internet postings, not a salable or formal body of work. I have thought lately about putting a portfolio together, but I'm struggling with it, and have no idea what I might do with a finished portfolio.

Perhaps there are a few college courses I can take that would qualify me to be a particular type of hack?

The writing aside, what sorts of things involve a relatively short and cheap training period resulting in relatively well-paid and stable employment? I don't expect to like work a lot, so won't be disappointed if it's not terribly pleasant. 'Respectability' is important for reasons I can't quite explain. And I want to give my daughter a nice home, but I have no great lust for money; an ideal job would be one I don't have to work full-time at to get by.

I suspect it's obvious that I need somewhat dumbed-down help, here. If I did need a job tomorrow I would be in a terrible spot; I have no idea how I'd even get a job at a restaurant at this point. I'm also starting to wonder if I'm wise to find volunteer work asap just to have one line to type on a resume.

Throwaway is mefithrowaway@live.com.

Why work?

JJ Jenkins — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 09:00:55 -0800

Is it possible to be a well-respected and fulfilled person without having a career? Money is not an issue, other than the fact that it would be nice to make my own for once. But would extra money matter, taking up all my time to make a small entry-level amount?

I went to school for a long time, against my will at first, and then just to finish what I started. I changed majors a few times, never finding anything I wanted to truly immerse myself in. I have MANY interests, and find myself consuming vast amounts of books, movies, plays, magazines, blogs, etc. I'm a very geeky person in that way. When I find something I like, I become obsessed with it for a while, a virtual expert, and then move on to the next thing. I'm not lazy, and I hate that people may think I am.

When it comes to starting a career, I'm just not interested. In an abstract way I think I am only because it was ingrained in me as a child that success is paramount to a good life. I often come up with business plans and go so far as to write them out and pitch them to people, and lose interest in the concept six months later. I know I'm capable, I know the who, what, where, and how, but I have a hard time coming up with the why.

When new friends ask me what I do, their reaction is either one of obvious disapproval though they try to conceal it ("Must be nice."), or outright envy and approval, like, "Why work? You don't have to. Enjoy!"

Can I be considered a worthwhile member of society without having a career? I'm not ready for children yet, and it seems like everyone is waiting for me to "do something." I feel like I'm letting someone down, mostly myself. I can't help but think as soon as I get pregnant I'll have major regrets about not having started a career or business first. I don't know how to work for ME.

What can I learn about women's changing roles in the world?

croutonsupafreak — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 20:30:00 -0800

In the U.S., we get all caught up in the decisions that adult women make and the consequences of those decisions. (To have children, not to have children, to work, to stay home with the children, not to work, to marry, to have children without marrying, etc.) Are there similar convulsions about these cultural issues in other countries, especially non-English speaking ones? How can I learn about them? I'm curious both about how women's roles in in their societies are changing and about how those societies are reacting to the changes.