Your Unemployed Daughter

© The Discarded

Not sure what to do with that pile of business cards the company had printed for you a week before your layoff? Check out The Discarded.

Michelle and Mike, cofounders of the project (they’re also, sweetly, a couple) want to humanize the “6.7 million unemployed people” statistic. As a physical representation of that number, they’re collecting the defunct business cards of as many folks as possible, and will feature those cards, along with individual people’s unemployment tales, on their website.

I love this project for its visual enormity—imagine 6.7 million cards, laid end-to-end! Plus, I can’t wait to read the stories; if my own experiences are any example, they’re gonna be good. YUD herself submitted 3 cards: One from the one that folded, one from the one from which she was laid-off, and one of her very own.

Scan and email or mail your own cards…or if you’re cardless (cheap bastard companies!), just tell your story online.

Michelle and Mike were generous enough to take a few questions from yours truly. Read on for their answers…

YUD: I love this idea. How did you guys come up with it? Were you sitting in a bar together, commiserating over your recent layoffs?

Michelle: A little bit after I was laid off, we were taking a stroll and talking about the number of business cards that must be thrown away or collecting dust. Imagine, more than 6 million people have lost their jobs, equaling millions and even billions of business cards put to waste. We also thought of a lot of our friends who seemed oblivious about how the recession is affecting personal lives. This led to us creating The Discarded. We want to make good use of these obsolete business cards and show that unemployment is not just a statistic.

Mike: I own a small digital advertising agency and unfortunately had to lay people off around the same time Michelle lost her job. The recession struck a chord for both of us in completely different ways. It’s interesting to see how how the economy was affecting the job market in both the employer and employee perspective.

YUD: Do you both have your own unemployment stories? Care to share?

Michelle: I was working in a marketing consultancy for close to 4 years. Things were good and I was in the middle of a project. Funny thing is, I even stayed late the night before I was laid off because I had so much to do. The next morning I was called into an office and my 2 bosses and an HR person told me the news. I was shocked initially and saddened because you never want to be fired, you want to quit. But with each day passing, I am more and more happy that I was removed from a company that I did not feel I belonged in. I’m glad that I was laid off because I at least got severance!

Mike: As the economy took a nosedive, most of our clients decided they didn’t have to pay us on time, or in some cases at all. The thought process was for them to keep as much cash on hand as possible and to not pay their vendors until the economic storm passed. We stayed afloat for as long as possible, and the other owner of the company and I didn’t pay ourselves for months so we could make sure our employees got their paychecks.

Eventually push came to shove and we had to start letting people go or we would have gone out of business. It’s easy to blame the employer for laying you off, but a lot of small businesses have been getting killed and a lot of business owners’ dreams have been destroyed. Showing someone the door is the last thing anyone wants to do. Fortunately over the last month or two things have picked up. I’d hate to jump to conclusions, but it feels like the economy is getting much better.

YUD: Do you feel that there should be a sense of pride in being one of the “discarded”? How do you think this recession is different than, say, the Great Depression?

Michelle: Well, I mean, I don’t know how it felt in the Great Depression but I imagine we have it a lot better. At least, I have it a lot better. I was laid off in May and could still live a fairly comfortable life. I feel very lucky to be able to still afford the gym, take writing classes, eat well even with my circumstances. I’m not sure if I can say that I am proud to be discarded but, for me, being discarded has worked out for the best. I am able to do things that matter to me, like this project. I am very proud of The Discarded even if there is really no monetary payback.

YUD: Are you working? Looking for full-time jobs? Why or why not?

Michelle: I am pursuing a career in writing—it’s one of the things that I’ve wanted to do and I’m thinking of taking it professionally. Let’s see what happens! I am also looking for part-time opportunities to teach English or be a caretaker. I love helping people. For profit, I help out at Mike’s company and am taking on other marketing gigs.

Mike: Yeah, I am almost glad she got laid off. She’s a whole different girl now! I continue to work at my agency and we hope to grow more in the future.

YUD: How wide-ranging has the response been to the site, and how many cards do you currently have?

Mike: We are in soft launch mode right now to test the waters before we put the entire site out. We’ve gotten tons of mail from people supporting the site and hope to attract more once they see what the site will be.

Michelle: It’s incredible. We thought that we would be only receiving entries from our demographic—New York twentysomethings in advertising/marketing, the Internet generation—but we’ve received entries from all sorts of age groups and industries, and from various parts of the country.

YUD: What do you hope to achieve with the project, ultimately? Do you have a number in mind?

Michelle: We would ideally want every single unemployed person whether they have found a job or not. I guess the number currently is 6.7 million?

Mike: That is a hell of a lot of cards.

YUD: What’s the best story you’ve gotten so far? How about the craziest business card?

Michelle: We have a few wacky people who have submitted entries, but there are a lot more heartfelt entries there. I can’t say I have a favorite one yet. The fact that we all are bonded by the effects of the recession—to me that is the most powerful and best story.

YUD: What have you learned from the process that you wouldn’t have expected?

Michelle: I’ve learned that we have no idea how bad it is out there. There are people who have been unemployed for 2 years! That is nuts. There also are a lot of hopeful stories out there. People who are finally reaching for their dreams, doing what they really want to do. I think our generation could take away so much from this “great recession.” We have been so spoiled and all lead such hedonistic lives that the recession is both humbling and inspiring. We have realized what is most important in life, and I hope that we won’t forget…

YUD: Do you think the recession is “over”?

Michelle: I have no idea. I hope so.

Mike: We are far from it, but I truly believe things are getting much, much better.

YUD: Will you share your business cards with YUD?

Michelle: We can definitely show you our business cards (discarded and not discarded)—and all business cards submitted will be used in The Discarded, so it’s for everyone to see. [The picture above is of some initial submissions.]

*The Discarded is currently soft-launched. Which means, in the lingo, MORE TK. Send your cards soon … and, as Suzanne Whang would say, stay tuned…