Ed. Note: The following is cross-listed with the Department of Transportation blog.
Last week, as President Obama addressed Congress on the American Jobs Act, Kirk Bergstrom, a construction engineer from Centennial, Colorado, who personifies our economic challenges, sat in the First Lady’s box.
Here's what I mean. Kirk Bergstrom is a stand-up guy, one of those Americans who has played by the rules all his life. He went to college to improve his opportunities. He developed his skills and experience through more than a decade working in his field. He got married and began raising a family. He was doing all the right things.
Then, when the recession began, he was laid off from a company he'd been with for 11 steady years. He was picked up by another construction company, but was laid off again. Hired back by his original company, he was again let go when the projects dried up.
For long stretches during this period–three months, six months, another six months–Kirk was unemployed. But even then he would not give up. He took part-time work in a warehouse while his wife struggled to hold down different part-time jobs. The bills–mortgage, utilities, groceries–piled up.
"My wife and I," Kirk says, "would sit up at night and just stare at each other, not knowing what to say."
The Bergstrom Family (Photo from US DOT)
Fonte: White House