Jessica Nestell Professor LeSage 11/06/09 MWF 11-11:50 Interview Paper The Great Depression was a period of grave

devastation when the outcome was bleak and hope was hard to come by. Yet at the same time the Great Depression was also during the lives of some of the strongest people that ever lived; people who werent afraid, people that had such a sense of pride most of the time they tried not to get free handouts. The people that lived during the Great Depression should be honored for the sacrifices they made in order to help rebuild the world to what it is today because for it not for them and their strength where would the world be today? The inspiration for this paper came from a lucky encounter with a group of survivors sitting around having coffee complaining about politics. The gas station that the encounter happened in is set on the edge of Main Street in a town best described as perfectly neutral in the political sense. Listening from the conversation you could never guess this but actually immersing yourself in the town would prove the reasons why. Half the town is strict conservative holding on to the idea strong family ties and hard work popular of the older generation, while the other half is new age liberal that believes everyone should be entitled to everything and that everyone should have the opportunity to do everything. Its easy to see where the differences of opinion come from; the town could best be described as the home of the left over money from the mines that built New York City and the left over hippies that found Woodstock to expensive. No matter what way you look at it Rosendale NY is one of the most unique places you could ever find, Ive worked there for 3 years now and I half never ceased to be amazed at the atmosphere of the place.

The encounter was amazing and totally unexpected, the four regulars Mr. Klondike, Bob the Builder, Tree tree tree man, and Hendrickson; were all enjoying their coffee complaining about the country, politics, taxes, and the young folk that dont know how to work. It was an average night they always stayed till about 11pm before calling it a night. I was at the booth next to them counting newspapers and preparing them to be wrapped up for the night. It was a mindless job so I was able to fully enjoy Tree tree tree man get into it with Bob the Builder over how the young folk dont work because they are being raised by those kids who listened to Jimi Hendrix and all those other rock rejects, how could you expect them to know what work is when all their parents do is listen to music that sounds like breaking speakers? After counting and dividing the papers I being mindlessly measuring the twine and stacking the papers the same way Ive been doing it for the past 3 years, the same way I was shown. Apparently my way wasnt up to par as I quickly heard a voice behind me. Youre doing that wrong, move over let me show you. To my astonishment it was Mr. Klondike standing behind me gesturing me to move over, I look at him surprise as I step aside and shoot a look to my co-worker to see if he saw what was going on. No luck, I would enjoy this all on my own. To my surprise his way was better using half the amount of twine he had them wrapped tighter than mine. I looked up at him and he answered my question without me even asking it. I used to work in shipping and receiving back when I was a boy, my father owned a shipping business during the depression. You know when I worked for him he paid me ten dollars a week less than the men that worked underneath me. You see with the times the way they were he didnt want them to think he was paying me so much just because I was his son. Just like that the entire conversation changed. Bob the Builder heard what Mr. Klondike had

said and quickly added his two cents. At least you had a job; at least your father had a job. Not everyone was so lucky! As the table started rumbling with the reminiscing of old men I asked a question. Im taking a class on the great depression and writing a paper on it do you mind if I ask you guys some questions? As much as they liked rumbling about their pasts in front of me it seemed a totally different thing to let me in on the actual conversation, and after a few seconds of looks between the men, their eyes all focused back at me. What do you want to know? Tree tree tree man was the first to speak, it didnt surprise me hes a very vocal man but when it comes to his life he doesnt want anyone to know. Out of the bunch he is the one that comes in the most but he is also the one I know the least about. Hendrickson was the one who stepped to my aid as he is the least paranoid of the bunch. She isnt trying to get all this information on you she just wants to know about the Depression and we could all tell her about it, go ahead ask away. The questions needed to start light especially under the careful eye of Tree tree tree man, yet at the same time I was pressed for time and needed information quickly. Did you get to stay in school during the Great Depression? To my surprise all of them had but Tree tree tree man was quick to down play that. The only reason we all stayed in school was that there wasnt any work for us young folk. Tree tree tree man wasnt afraid to let me know what he really thought about these questions. Look I dont like telling you these things but Hendrickson seems to think it will all mean something so I give you two more questions.

Looking around the table even Hendrickson was shaking his head a bit so I decided to go for good ones. Can you describe to me your familys status throughout the depression? Mr. Klondike was the first to speak, well my father inherited the shipping business from my grandfather in the mid twenties now I dont remember this I was just a baby but apparently he put a lot of money into most of which he didnt have. Thats why he hired me and my brothers for most of the higher positions because he didnt pay us a third of what we deserved. It made it easier on the family so we didnt have to rely on the governments help. I suppose in the end we made out better than most. The table got quiet and I looked at all of them to see who dare speak next. It was Hendrickson. My story is boring; let me tell you that now my family lived up near where I live now. They had a lot of land; my mother was a teacher and my father a farmer and handyman. Our farm was small and we grew a little bit of everything so once the depression hit we just stayed home. Any food we didnt eat my mother caned didnt get much meat and milk but we lived and we didnt lose anything either. Tree tree tree man took back the spotlight and quickly began. I dont know what you guys are talking about this was the depression it was bad and it was hard. My father lost work before I was old enough to understand, I was only a kid for the depression but I was about six years old when my family moved in with my grandparents. I didnt know it then but the house we lost was built by my mothers father and losing that house was something she blamed on herself for the rest of her life. My father was a proud man he didnt take help, never once did he accept any government help he said those who did werent strong enough. I turned to Bob the Builder who was nervously playing with his cup of coffee. I dont think youll get much out of mine. My family lost everything before I

was born, I remember driving a lot when I was real young but at some point my family took me and my two younger sisters to our grandmothers and left. We went to school and lived there on the little that my grandparents had. The church helped us some when they can, and every once and a while my parents or older siblings would send money. We all sat for a minute taking in what Bob the Builder had said, until Tree tree tree man broke the silence. Whats your last question? I had already figured out the last question as I heard the stories so I quickly began. In your own life during the depression what was the hardest thing you had to live through? The men are men of routine so they followed the same order as last time. Mr. Klondike got this far away look in his eyes before he began speaking. My family was lucky so it wasnt really something I lived through in way it was watching everyone else that was hardest for me. The boys I used to play with after school no longer could play because they were needed to work or their family moved all together. Most the time I didnt like that I was so much better off than everyone else because it meant that I was alone with my family. Hendrickson quickly starts It was the atmosphere I think my story is just like Mr. Klondike here, it was watching my friends lose everything. Even my aunts, uncles and cousins werent as lucky some of them moved away. Tree tree tree man took a breath before he began, The hardest part was watching my father turn into a shell of himself. After moving in with my grandparents something happened to him he changed. He was strong enough to support his family and it killed him, after it was over he started to get sick died back in 54 and I think the cause of death should have been the depression because he never got over it. Bob the builder went to finish his story, My brother died. He was six years older than me and he stayed with my parents when they dropped us

younger children to stay with my grandparents. At some point he got sick but they couldnt stop they were following the work and if they stopped they may never find it again. I was told that one day they left him in the truck when they went out to work and came back to find he had passed. As soon as the conversation ended Tree tree tree man was quick to make me leave. All right you got your questions now leave us be. I started to turn back to my work when Bob the Builder began to speak. You know Jessica, hes just an old bitter man we dont mind you asking us about this. I thanked them all and gave them all free refills as a token of appreciation and went back to my papers, they went back to talking and complaining but their conversation had changed now it was all about the past. The theme of pride and unwillingness to receive handouts is a common theme not only in my interview but in the book as well. The people of the Great Depression can best be described as a strong people whose pride often was larger than their problems. As I spoke with the men I thought of all the men who took to the streets during the Great Depression because they had nothing else to do. I wonder if I could be that strong.