Short on money, losing patience

By Juan Castillo
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, March 22, 2009

Jobless for months, his money running low and his patience burned thin, Roberto Romero is running a little hot.

As he ponders his predicament, Romero, a fan of the fights, evokes the hard-punching style of one of his boxing idols, the iconic heavyweight Rocky Marciano.

"The politicians need to do something," said Romero, a machine shop helper who was making about $400 a week before he was laid off in November. "When people get laid off, they're playing with their dignity and their necessity to have income to live."

A short, proud man with dark hair cropped in a tight buzz, Romero, 55, fires off complaints that show his frustration with the sick economy and his inability to find another low-wage job that matches his skills.

For months now, Romero has spent large chunks of his days looking for work, mostly at the bustling Workforce Solutions job center in North Austin, which was filled earlier this month with dozens of jobless people like him. First Romero prints out long slips of paper bearing job listings, then takes them to a computer where he can apply for them — usually five to seven jobs whenever he visits the center, several times a week.

But the vast majority of employers don't bother to respond, leaving Romero collecting old job slips the way a kid collects trading cards. When he spoke to the American-Statesman, Romero carried at least two dozen slips in a plastic bag, along with a thick guide on résumé writing and cover letters.

He said that his driving record includes one misdemeanor DWI and said he gave up drinking six years ago. But he suspects that being truthful about his record has hurt his chances with would-be employers.

"I want to work," he said several times during a long conversation at the job center, surrounded by long rows of computers, each one being used. "I want success for me and my son. In 10 years I'm going to be retired, and what kind of retirement am I going to have?"

To keep going, he said he has borrowed about $10,000 from his brother. Romero, who is divorced, and his 17-year-old son, Roberto Jr., ("he's a very good kid — he wants to be a police officer") live in a $650-a-month, two-bedroom duplex in North Austin. Romero receives about $320 a week in unemployment insurance benefits and about $325 a month in food stamps, benefits he said he would gladly lose.

"I would rather work," he said.