What concrete signs of economic grief are you seeing?

I would be very interested in hearing your individual accounts of economic hardship, in America and in other countries as well. What are you seeing around you every day? What kind of physical, concrete evidence are you noticing (if any) among your friends, neighbors, and co-workers? What do you see driving around or walking the streets? Have you noticed shifts in perception, attitude, or emotion among those you encounter? Does the general "mood" feel different to you? And so on.

What's the "word on the streets?" I'm a near-hermit in an extremely isolated rural area, so its very hard for me to get a feel for what's going on outside the Internet.

Well I'm in BC, Canada... and there are layoffs, I'm finding it difficult to find work myself, as I imagine many other people are due to the lack of jobs.

People are talking about it more than ever... I don't know, lots of people are depressed.

I am not seeing any problems what so ever. Gas is cheap and I still get paid. However I am in a business that would not be effected. And I work at home and rarely get much interaction with other people that are effected by the economy. I will agree my point of view is not one that is very normal probably.

Mandatory unpaid days off.

Just heard this the other day. Better than being laid off though.

[edit on 7-12-2008 by TravelerintheDark]

I live in a rich city and haven't seen anything out of the ordinary yet. I hear about it online and in the news, but as far as I can tell the majority of the people being effected are at the lower socioeconomic end than what I am around. I thought about taking a nationwide bus trip to gain a sense of what is really going on. Am still thinking about it. I want to have a greater grasp and empathetic ability of what Americans are experiencing in these bleak times.

I live in a small town about 20 miles east of Pittsburgh, Pa. Alot of people around my area have started walking and riding bikes everywhere lately, even with the falling gas prices.

Also I've worked at the Bob Evan's near my house for awhile and business has been going really slow lately even on days when it's usually busy. And we used to have alot of small shops open in the downtown area but many have gone out of business.

It used to be a pretty lively town but now it just seems like it's becoming dead.

No impact at all here yet. The low oil prices will hurt us shortly though. Sometimes too low of prices can do harm.

Our latest report is that the economy was up by 3.5% last year. Unemployment is holding at about the same as the year before.

I live about 60 miles south of Chicago, near Joliet Illinois.

My work has laid off about 7 people so far.

Just about every business I see in town has a "Closing" sign in the window.

My father, a business owner himself, has seen a dramatic fall in his customers and he also has begun laying off his employees.

It's getting pretty bad over here in Ontario. No jobs anywhere, and most places where I live are either downsizing dratically or just plain shutting down. A lumber mill I used ot work in that just opened 5 years ago is in big trouble.

Thier biggest custom is Menards from the states and they are cutting thier imports by almost 50% starting next year. From the looks of it this mill will not survive it. They are already starting week "shut downs" to accomidate thier growing stock in the yard.....and I was just talking to a friend who still works there and now they will be shutting down 1 to 2 weeks ever month next year, with a possible indefinite layoff coming around April or May depending on the situation.

But it's not just the lumber sector here thats in trouble. Our automobile dealers here are slowly slowing down. I know people say that things will work out in the end, but just looking from my corner of the globe im really getting worried...seriously thinking on heading to another province for work, there is nothing here anymore.

Edit for spelling and grammar......im so tired

[edit on 12/7/0808 by Trayen11]

reply to post by silent thunder


I am self employed and work as a freelance agent and work as a freelance marketing manager. Most of my work is contract work.

I work with small to medium size manufacturers, real estate developers, and municipalities on internet public relations and internet strategies.

Plain and simple....My last quarter 08 customers are stalling on due dates for fear of the next invoice. Most of my work is being pushed to 2cnd quarter 09. The biggest pain is actually collecting money from customers who are refusing to pay. It is a sad time..... My receivables are out 45 to 60 days. I never had one past 20 days before August 08

Everyone I know is having a tough time including myself and family of 5. Not from layoffs, althought there have been several in my region, but the rising costs of living. Everything has gone up except the paycheck.

We're a one income family courtesy of my husband and the little extra I bring in substitute teaching. My husband does security work in the horse racing industry and if the customer base keeps declining because they can no longer afford to plop money down on betting the horse races, we'll be, for lack of a better term, screwed. No customers, no job.

While we've never gone overboard at Christmas for our kids, it's going to be even tighter this year. We always pay cash for Christmas gifts but there's just not enough this year for the regular 3 or 4 (cheap) things that each of our 3 children get every year. A couple of gifts a piece under the tree from Santa and a $50 gift card each from mom and dad will be all we can manage this year.

I thank God that the gas prices have gone down or there would be no Christmas at all. Our grocery budget has gone from $400 a month to around $600 a month for the exact same list. Nothing bought but the bare necessities. Our electric bill is out of sight, the water bill has gone up and it doesn't look as if either are going to come down. Not to mention all of the extras you have to pay for on a weekly basis that the kids have to furnish for school; snacks, field trip money, extra band lessons etc.

I'm sure not looking forward to next year if it's going to be as bleak as the "experts" are forecasting.

I've noticed food prices are still going up. and a very strange thing and that is Kids that are married and have kids of their own are moving back in with mom and dads.

I told my daughter to go too collage and to get an education, and she did. but the bad news is she went to accounting school and can't even balance a checkbook and her husband has less than a high school education working part time jobs. my daughter has a part time job also working as a maid at a hotel.

With the way things are, any line of work is good work. I know of several people who have a wall full of degrees and certifications and they are not working in their specific field they went to college for. And two of them did what I did in the early years just before and during college, they diversified their skills so they too could cover a wide ground when it comes to careers.

Have not seen any real effect out here, in fact the way things are here, one would say there isnt any economic crash at all. Just the opposite. If one doesnt have a job out here, its because they are simply not looking for one.

Places here cant find enough help, and just about every buisness along the shopping strips, industrial strips, big and small, have help wanted signs on the front doors. The classified ad's are cramed packed with jobs, spanning several pages, especially in Sunday's paper.

Its going to very from location to location. And its going to be awhile before any of it really gets any better for these hard hit areas. Those who are affected the worst by all this mess may have to consider relocation. And right now with the cheap fuel costs, those folks may want to put that consideration towards the front of the list and seriously consider it before those fuel prices jack up so high again that it would be even more difficult to make a move to greener pastures.




Cheers!!!!!

Here in Kentucky we had a Dam that was leaking and they needed local workers to repair the dam, people came from all the surrounding states to get hired, the total that my son-in-law said was around 2,000 or more that showed up.

not much sign where I live either
Alls good in the northwest

But my brother was telling me how bad it is in so cal

My husband and I work in the restaurant business, and we're seeing a huge slow-down in business. This means we get scheduled later, leave earlier, and at the end of the week, we just aren't getting as many hours as we used to. We're doing ok as far as getting enough hours at the moment, but I worry about next week and the week after. Everything seems so unstable.

Every day, my co-workers are talking about the economic crisis and how it's affecting them. Our loss in business means everyone is not making money like they used to.

My coworkers are expressing a lot of worry and fear, and everyone seems really frustrated and on-edge.

I work with a lot of young adults who in college, and many of them have graduated recently but are unable to find decent paying jobs in their field. They've taken out student loans to pay for tuition, books, and other expenses, and now they're having to pay them off.

There are many recent graduates having problems. I'll give you just one example. One server has a double major in psychology and business, and she recently burst out into tears because she's so upset that she can't get a job in her field, she's struggling to makes ends meet now that her student loans have come due and tips and business are way down.

Anyway, pretty much everyone I work with is down and out because of the economic situation.

Edited a sentence for clarification

[edit on 7-12-2008 by cornblossom]

here in phoenix arizona it is bad. A lot of small business have closed. The construction has kept this city going for years and it has pretty much come to a stand still. The only building are places that were already slated to be built. Gas is low...means we are in for it. Prices of food are already high and are getting higher. College fees are going up. Gov't jobs are being asked to work a day for free a month. Will then go to salary cuts then to RIF (reduction in force). Lots of foreclosures.

I live in Houston and work in the oil business. I've been in the business for about thirty years. So far I haven't seen any major problems in our line of work, but with the oil business it can be up one day and fall apart the next. That's just the nature of the business. There have been some budget cuts at our office and we won't be drilling as many new wells in 2009 as we have been able to do in the past.

So far in Houston, I'm not seeing any additional problems yet. I do think that due to the large amount of oil companies in this city that the economic downfall will hit us also, just so far it hasn't trickled to us yet...it's coming though.

I have been trying to cut back on everything and trying to save as much as I can for what I do see coming. I think the major stuff will probably start around the end of January. I know my 401K and retirement has been hit hard (as has everyone else). I have lost about 40% so far. Looks like I will be working for a lot longer than I planned...IF I get to keep my job or can find another one if it should come to that.

Marilyn~

reply to post by silent thunder


401k down 40%
Stock down 50%
Many co-workers being let go.
No raises or promotions this year
Family members being laid off
Neighbors have been unemployed for months
Wholesale food is getting expensive
Business going under

Other than that, you couldn't really tell.

Originally posted by Karlhungis


401k down 40%
Stock down 50%
Many co-workers being let go.
No raises or promotions this year
Family members being laid off
Neighbors have been unemployed for months
Wholesale food is getting expensive
Business going under

Other than that, you couldn't really tell.

Hey you ok?
Need a napkin or something?
Wanna talk about it?


[edit on 9-12-2008 by SLAYER69]