Fading Hope Rides the E-Mail; Ohio Man, One of 9 Million Americans Adrift, Lost Job, Home, Savings
"Congratulations," the e-mail Adkins is reading starts off, and that first word alone is enough to flood him with an emotion he hasn't felt in nearly two years. Later, he will describe it. "Jubilation," he will say. But for now, he reads what comes next -- "on successfully advancing to Level 2 of the Trade Chief Assessment" -- and sits, just sits, overcome.</br></br>A 38-year-old single man, Adkins represents what in Washington is the political issue of what to do about the more than 9 million Americans who are either jobless or underemployed and an economy that has been described as "slow" and "adrift." In Newark, Ohio, though, Adkins is simply one of the sadder stories around.</br></br>Once a lawyer, he lost his job in June 2001 when his company downsized because of the worsening economy, and has seen his life collapse. He has exhausted his savings and retirement. He had to sell his house and the 40 acres he lived on and everything else he owned except a car, a bed, two chairs, a laptop computer and a TV. It took 18 months to find the part-time job he has now, which, to add to the sting, is at the local unemployment office helping people find jobs. He works in a cubicle that belongs to a woman on extended sick leave. The family pictures are hers. The decorations are hers. The bottle of water is his, and the day planner, and that's it. That's what two years have brought.</br></br>But now comes word that, for the first time in hundreds of attempts, Adkins has made it to the second round for a job, a permanent, full-time position with the state, and after reading the e-mail, he goes to tell his supervisor, Patty Ernest, who is so happy for him that she comes around from her desk and gives him a hug.</br></br>"Poor Stuart," she says after he has returned to his cubicle. "He's been through it, I'll tell you that much."