by Chana Joffe-Walt

Last fall I met Iris Glaze at a "Washington Mutual wake." It was a WaMu staff party organized after the thrift collapsed to "remember and celebrate the good times." Iris is a striking personality. She worked in investor relations at Washington Mutual, and you can tell she loves people the minute she meets you, hugs you and asks you for your life story. We met in this huge room full of talented, recently laid-off people — but still, I thought Iris would charm someone else into hiring her, easily. Apparently not. She writes:

I'm okay. Still searching for a job. I started out looking for the perfect job (which I had at WaMu) but my standards are quickly lowering and now I hope to hear back about my application to be a Wal-Mart greeter. McDonald's turned me down for the fry cook job. Sigh.