The Dreaming Tree has Died

Wow, what a week we had. If you heard a crash it was my innocence shattering in the wake of the economy falling over. Up until last week, it was easy to scoff at this whole "economic downturn" as someone else's problem. Yeah, my 401(k) may be down, but I'm young and it will have time to recover. Yeah, some banks have lost a lot of money, but you could say it was their own fault anyway. Maybe there is a bit less traffic getting to work or maybe I should have noticed how easy it is to get a table at lunch these days. Many of my good friend's start-ups have let good people go, but hey, that couldn't happen to us, right?

The last 5 days have been non-stop hearing of the word layoff. From the neighbor, to a former co-worker, to a drinking buddy. Its hard to forget the images of good friends walking back to their cubes, cheap cardboard box in hand and a blank look on their faces. Everyone is keeping face and acting tough, but it isn't hard to imagine how they are churning inside. Its a disgusting sight. Its quick to see how tatered the saftey net can be and hard to notice how far the fall is into it. The other side of the American dream isn't too pretty.

Things will get better, but they aren't better right now. Lets hope things settle down for the holidays.