My assignment is to make up a story about a families life during the Great Depression so I wrote this. It’s kinda long and I doubt anybody would actually read through the whole thing but oh well.
The Great Depression
By: Viktor Djokovic
The Depression Begins
Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding. The sound of the bell in the New York Stock Exchange located in New York City, New York woke me up from my slight snooze. My father, waiting patiently at the right of me, elbowed my chest. I quickly shot up and was ready to start another day as a stock broker/computer technician. The giant room filled with many lights, numbers, and old men with blue suits filled the area. My father and I went our separate ways to where we were needed. He was a stockbroker who occasionally played the stock market and was quite good at it. I am currently following in his footsteps. On my way to my small desk with a bunch of papers spread on my beige colored desk. A small calculation machine that was slowly rusting but still shiny sat across from my comfortable chair to my right. I slowly sat down and exhaled. My work was about to begin.
I do what any other good stockbroker does: give advice and sell. It was a good job, paid high and had great benefits. Today was no different. Since the “Roaring 20’s,” the stock market became what was known as a bull type of market (1). Almost everybody was making quick money with little effort. Those who know what they were doing made even more, like my dad. Anyways, after the usual day was over, filled with prosperity, I walked home. We, along with my mom and two brothers, lived only a block away in a fancy apartment complex. On my way there, I noticed peoples pockets full of money with big gleaming smiles plastered on their faces. Automobiles (2) filled the streets. Since Henry Ford created the assembly line, the automotive business exponentially grew. It was only available in black, but no one cared. It was the first car that almost everybody could afford. These were affluent times indeed.
There was this flat tire of a woman on a dull rocking chair who had this terrible Brooklyn accent. Whenever I approach the main doors, she kept on repeating the stock market was going to crash over and over again. I just wanted to reach down her throat and correct her larynx so she talked normally. No matter, I happily whistled through the well-cleaned corridors that were filled with shiny doorknobs, clean doormats, and people with lovely suits on. I strode over to my apartment number, A5, and got out the key. When I entered, the fresh smell of Pljeskavica, a type of Serbian hamburger made with rich meat filled the room and made its way to my taste buds.
Its aroma was overpowering and I could not help but drool a bit. My mom, an affable woman, was baking in the granite kitchen. Expensive spices were on her left while stainless steel knives and other various equipment to her right. She was hacking away at another cuisine.
“Mother, hello.” I greeted her.
“Hello, Viktor. How are you doing? How was work?”
“Work was nice. The stock market is continuing to rise so that means more money for us. Dad will probably work late again to squeeze out as much money as he can out of other people.”
“I see…that is what he is good at so more money for us!”
“Yeah, I guess.”
My father was an extreme conservative (3) so he enjoyed money so much that he became a workaholic in the past month. With the stock market being as it is, he made even more money. “The wonderful green stuff” as he would like to call it. The way that he would earn his paycheck is that many people started to buy on margin (4), meaning on credit. They would come to him, asking for money and saying that they would pay him back later as they sell their stock and he charges a fee based on the stock. They were pretty much speculators (5) and my father, having graduated from numerous colleges in Serbia with many degrees in international business/stock, took advantage of this. I, having faced the horrors of World War I at the age of 16, came over with my family to New York along with my two brothers to find a better life. I grew up to respect other people, be tolerable of them, and have a great education. So, I decided to follow my father because I also loved money. Anyways, my brothers came in at around this time.
“Hey mom, bro”.
“Hey guys,” I greeted them. My mom went up to them and each gave them a kiss on the cheek. They were both twins and in the 12th grade and absolutely loved working with their hands. They planned to start their own mechanics shop after high school and my parents both agreed since the automobile caused many other companies to boom. We conversed for a while, me reminiscing about what I did today, and we all sat down to have dinner. After the fabulous dinner, I excused myself and decided to head ou
Alright, apparently it won’t fit… So! Go to this site:
www.freewebs.com/thegreatdepression/
Don’t worry, its not a fake one.. Its a real site that I made to put my project together.
Quick Property Sale
