As the economy is said to improve, it’s doesn’t make any difference for a group of workers caught between the demographic borders. It’s good to see this issue getting some attention in traditional media:

Dallas Morning News — Companies don’t like to talk about it, but some job seekers, lawyers, researchers and people who help the unemployed say age discrimination in hiring exists. The Age Discrimination and Employment Act protects workers 40 and older, and forbids treating a job applicant or employee less favorably because of his or her age. But proving age discrimination is difficult, said Robert Canino, an attorney for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Dallas.

A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2009 raised the burden of proof in age discrimination lawsuits. Now, a person must show that age was the determining factor leading to an employer’s action, not just a contributing factor. Still, age discrimination complaints related to hiring, firing and promotions increased 45 percent in the last 15 years, according to the EEOC. “What we do know from talking to people is that hiring discrimination is really rampant out there,” said Laurie McCann, a senior attorney for AARP.

This is a big issue for me, obviously, considering what just happened, last week, during a hiring process for a lousy 16 dollar an hour customer service I was so qualified for it was sick. But it’s an even bigger issue for some people.

I’ve known two friends who died over the last year because they were unemployed. One was an architect, the other an engineer. They were both laid off early in the recession and could find no gainful employment, not even temp work in their field, no matter how many resumes they put in or how many interviews they went on. They exhausted unemployment insurance, savings, retirement savings, and charity. Is it at all unsurprising that eventually, they might have succumbed to depression from time to time, or had a difficult time getting fired up about that next job interview?

Over and over, as months turned into years, they had to make brutal financial choices, power bill or medications, gasoline for the car to get to an out of town job interview or risking a lapse on car insurance, etc. The very first thing that gets sorted to the bottom of the deck when you are facing that Faustian bargain are routine check ups and basic meds. One of them had developed borderline diabetes, one day they got into the bath tub, apparently their blood sugar crashed, they passed out, hit their head on the side and drowned. The other one got up one morning, was sitting on his bed, fell forward and there was no one there to reposition his body, check his airway, or call 9-11. They were 49 and 47 years-old respectively. They both probably fell prey to conditions that could have been easily prevented, or at least detected and managed. Neither had been to a doctor in years.

When this happened the knee-jerk reaction of almost everyone I saw, in one way or another, was to try to figure out some way that it was the deceased’s own fault. They didn’t try hard enough to get a job, they had a bad attitude, they got depressed and drank too much or laid around too much, their expectations were unrealistic, they didn’t know how to manage money — that last one is particularly hilarious. I would love to see how one manages money when fixed monthly expenses vastly exceed monthly income. Without engaging in fantasy, like step one: find an apartment or buy a house costing $50 a month  …

People would hang this post mortem diagnosis on the flimsiest of evidence, some offhand comment one made on the phone about wanting to get a pair of used ski boots. That single hearsay comment was used to justify the conclusion that that guy just didn’t have his priorities straight. Even though he never got any boots, he just supposedly mentioned one time to one friend that he saw some on Craigslist.

What Was He Doing Wasting Time On Craigslist Looking At Used Ski Boots! Aha! He Wasn’t Even TRYING. That explains everything.

And this wasn’t done by detractors or cruel people, this was what transpired among the closest friends who dearly loved the these guys. Because I assure you, this isn’t rare, it’s human nature. I’ve experienced it first-hand, blame and shame the unemployed or underemployed.

There was only one guy I know, in one case, who tried to intervene near the end and get one those friends some help. And the rest of us should have taken that concern a lot more seriously than we did.

They were victims of the recession, a recession they had no hand in at all, and they are just two out of uncounted thousands of middle-aged unemployed who never had a fucking chance.