CLEARWATER — The Tampa Bay metro area lost at least 27,000 jobs in the past year, according to a report released last week.
But there were no names attached.
Three days before the report came out, Carl Smith was standing outside the room he had rented by the week. With him were his only possessions — a suitcase and a guitar. The room was clean and the rent was cheap. Only $150 a week. But he could no longer afford even that.
So now he had to decide whether to keep trying or give up on Florida for good, take what was left of his savings and hop the 7 p.m. bus to Nashville.
Smith is 50, single, and has worked as a carpenter for half his life, usually making around $18 an hour. But that was before the housing market tanked last year.
He said that in order to compete for the few remaining jobs, contractors have had to slash costs. To do that, they hire people willing to work for less than half the going wage.
"Illegal workers," Smith said. "It's frustrating as hell. I'd be glad to work for a living. I can do framing and high-end trim work. I can cut rafters and stairs. I know what I'm doing. But try to make it on $6 or $7 an hour."
He needed to go somewhere to think, and the best place for that was the Three Coins restaurant. He'd walk there, buy a cup of coffee and figure his next move. "I honestly never thought I'd be in a situation like this," he said.
He sold magazine subscriptions over the phone after the construction jobs dried up. But after he paid his rent last week, he had $20 left.
"You've got to eat," he said. "And the bus costs $3 a day. I don't know what to say. I'd just as soon get out of here."
He has a driver's license and a van, but the transmission broke and he couldn't afford to replace it.
"I saw an ad in the newspaper a couple of weeks ago for a carpenter," he said. "I didn't call. I'm too broke to get there."
But he plays bass guitar and knows somebody in Nashville who knows somebody else who knows country star Kenny Rogers. Maybe there's work for a carpenter/musician in Music City.
"Going to Nashville probably sounds crazy as hell," he said. "I've always been able to find work. But not now. Not here."
He could use the deposit on his rented room for the $94 bus ticket to Nashville.
He'd have hardly anything left, but at least he'd have a roof over his head for the next 14 hours.
"I'm just a guy trying to make a living," he said.
Attempts to locate Smith in recent days have been unsuccessful.
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