they took the axe to my property today...

[Dis]

I still have a job. . Some people I enjoyed working with don't, however . I'll miss them. they were good folk. But I will be changing shifts, not sure what yet, I'll know monday. Some of the girls I was interested in are still there, but I figured I better act now and ask them out, so I did . But some of the other cute girls were cut.

Laying off cute girls
Laying cute girls

They cut 3 of our techs total, one floor and 2 utility. Cut half the girls (not all were girls, some guys I work with too) I work with on a daily basis, cut some cleaning girls, and eliminated a couple salaried positions.

My job is safe for now. But my company is filing for bankruptcy. More of a formality thing, as they are trying to restructure their loans. But Yahoo did an article of top 50 companies most likely to fail. and our was on their list. Kind of has me worried. . But I'm ok for now, I'll save up some money. Even now I could probably afford to be unemployed probably 3 years. Problem is depressions last much more than 3 years.

One thing I always wondered, how did people eat in the great depression? I don't know that much about it. I read the wiki page, but that's general information at best. It doesn't describe how people actually ate and afforded to live. I also read grapes of wrath, but that was just a book, and I don't remember much about it. If you aren't working (and no unemployment back then), how was it millions of people just didn't simply starve to death? Who fed them and clothed them? What about shelter- I know many lived in shanty towns, but not everyone did. 25% unemployment rate is pretty extreme, I want to know how people who were unemployed survived and didn't starve or freeze to death.

And yes it does look like we are heading towards another great depression. My city is approaching 10% unemployment rate. I've never seen it this bad in my lifetime.

I'm not much of a religious man, but I will pray for the unemployed and impoverished. I know they have it much better than people in other countries, but I think it's human nature to be more aware of your immediate surroundings, than distant events in other countries.

right now Obama is looking pretty inept at handling this crisis. maybe not as bad as Bush, but I hope he does something soon. I really think his lack of experience is hurting us right now.

P.S. is there no way to edit titles anymore? The should be they btw.

[ZEE]

Obama is just another scam artist except he's good at controlling a crowd. And hes black.

[Asher]

right now Obama is looking pretty inept at handling this crisis. maybe not as bad as Bush, but I hope he does something soon. I really think his lack of experience is hurting us right now.

This just boggles the mind.

He's been in power a couple weeks, and you thought he could snap his finger and fix the economy?

[Alinestra Covelia]

Bankruptcy isn't a death sentence. The company will probably get some respite and restructure itself and stabilize.

Good to hear you're still onboard as it does so.

[Tuberski]

Hell it took Dubya 6.5 years to really screw up the economy.

ACK!

[Jon Miller]

Maybe start a garden and learn how to can?

JM

[Dis]

right now Obama is looking pretty inept at handling this crisis. maybe not as bad as Bush, but I hope he does something soon. I really think his lack of experience is hurting us right now.

This just boggles the mind.

He's been in power a couple weeks, and you thought he could snap his finger and fix the economy?

No. I realize he can't do that. I guess I expected something like FDR. He gave people hope. Sure he really didn't do all that much to get us out of the depression, but he did give hope.

I know there's alot of debate about FDR. He foolishly imho tried to keep a balanced budget for a long time. But many argue he didn't spend enough. And it took the massive ww2 goverment spending to get us out. But other argue opposite and that he prolonged it. But I don't think I agree with that opinion.

I want Obama to take a leadership role (that's what he's elected for) and give people hope. I'm not asking him to be a motivational speaker, but to give people reason to look forward to the future.

[Theben]

That's pretty much what he's done, inspire people to weather the storm. Can you honestly think of any other politician who could generate optimism about like he has?

That said, this was a bad week for him. Hopefully a learning week. At least he actually does seem to want to fix this mess. I can't think of a president in my lifetime who did the same (maybe Carter tried... definitely mixed results there).

And how did the "asking out" of women go?

[Lancer]

Soup kitchens paid for by various gov agencies and religios organizations, family gardens, and remember that even in the great depression the unemplyment figures were somewhere between 25 and 30%. That means that somewhere around 3 out of 4 still had work. My mother worked in a white castle burger place. The pay wasn't high but she augmented it by making soup out of ketchup and pickle juice.

Tough times, might be a royal *****.

[Theben]

Of course since the Accounting Office is playing with the numbers 10% unemployment is probably the Depression-era equivalent of 14-15%. Let's all hope it doesn't get too much worse.

[Agathon]

I wouldn't worry about it Dis. Look at the people who lived through the last Depression. They had to put up with a war after that, and then things got better. Most of the people who were in their 20s and 30s lived to enjoy a pretty decent life in their later years.

One thing that you may consider is that our society has a surfeit of immaterial goods, that are more or less free to access. If you don't have work, or don't have full time work, why not educate yourself?

[Ben Kenobi]

I don't see why you expected things to get better. If he is the next FDR, then the US is ****ed for the next decade.

[Elok]

Yeah, we know you wish he was a "second Reagan" instead, so he could helpfully sell missiles to Iran...

[Darius871]

This just boggles the mind.

Regardless of amount of time in office, you thought any president could snap his finger and fix the economy?

fixed

[DanS]

Laying off cute girls
Laying cute girls

An interesting statistic that I heard a couple of days ago: over 80% of the layoffs so far have been men.

As for eating during a depression, it's rather more civilized now. People get unemployment benefits until the storm clears. Of course, unemployment isn't much money for some people. And if you were self-employed, you're SOL.