A Down Economy

I wish that I could say that I have not seen the ugly side of this down economy. Although, I still have my job (as of now) and I'm still able to afford my home, car, insurance, etc., I have begun to see the negative effects creeping into my office and home.

For instance, at my place of employment we are all nervous about our industry. We are truly a luxury service and priced right at the top of our competition. Although sales aren't as bad as some of the more negative of workers had predicted earlier in the year, they are still down. There has been an undercurrent of fear and anxiety over whether or not most of us will still be employed come Christmas and, if this scenario should happen to us, will there be any jobs out there to fill our void?

I have diligently watched the job market for myself... just in case. Checking in with one of the easiest places to find job postings that are relevant for myself, I have found there to be quite a drought. Previously, I had checked this website regularly to find at least 2-3 new jobs posted throughout the day. Now, the job list, which had once been pages long, is down to one page and has not been updated since early September. Unless I missed some notice that the website has been down, I am left to believe that everyone has stopped hiring. I believe the latter to be true.

At home we watch the news and read the papers hoping for the slightest glimpse of sun amongst the dense, gray fog of depression. My finance (truly fiance, however I always misspell it and he has come to call me finance to poke fun at me) and I often talk about the "what ifs" and our strategy if one or both of us are to be laid off. We joked just yesterday about pulling all of our money out of the banks and burying it in the yard.

However, I think our country was out of control for so long that this is what we needed. My hope is that through all of this fear and loss we are able to grow stronger as a country. I understand that I am really not one to say my next comment, but I feel that it is necessary. We have been so spoiled and reliant on everyone else to do everything for us. We don't value anything anymore and we are lacking in the most basic of skills. Without the vast amounts of disposable income and convenience of our high tech devices, we are useless. Well, at least a good portion of us are.

Maybe when this is all said and done, we will possess skills and value the lifestyle we are allowed to live instead of lazily complaining about having to do anything at all. I don't know what the future holds, but I hope that these hard times will bring us back to Earth.