Yesterday was labeled “Bloody Monday” in honor of the 71,400 jobs that were lost in the United States. This seemingly humble statistic will now be coupled with the 2008 job casualties that reached an astounding 2.6 million. And then today another 11,500 jobs were lost – a reported 1,500 of those came from Target alone.
Just before 9 am this morning my entire department was informed that a mandatory meeting was being held to share corporate wide information. Anxiety and tension blanketed the air like a thick July fog as busy minds began to speculate what was coming. Nearly every member on my floor was in attendance as the inevitable sentence was read, the crippling economy had finally taken its toll on Target and layoffs had been made. It was surreal, because even though our department was safe – for now – it was bittersweet. Shuffling out of that conference room was incredibly somber; it felt like a funeral.
As I sat back down at my desk I attempted to process the reality that not only was the economy crumbling but it had finally gotten a little too close for comfort. Just as soon as began my analysis I realized just how little I actually knew about the current financial state of our economy, how we got here and more importantly how we were going to get out.
I spent a considerable amount of energy trying to understand how it is that a nation with a culmination of the brightest minds, most advanced technology and arguably the most power in the world has let itself fall so deep into crisis that even asylum seems impossible now. And the reality being that it is going to take at least as long to get out of this mess as it took us to get in. I emphasis the word “us” because amidst disaster the finger pointing breaks out in epidemic and no one person can possibly be completely to blame - though I think we all know the one person so many are quick to cast the blame. Certainly that person who shall remain nameless does deserve a certain amount of the credit, but there are many at fault. Depending on who ask, what time of the day you ask or the intonation in your voice when you ask, you may hear different cause for the mistakes made; “the War”, “the Bush administration”, “the housing market”, etc, etc, etc.
The truth is there are likely many culprits here - but the overriding factor is that we broke a very simple rule, “do not live beyond your means – don’t spend money you don’t have.” (My dad is shaking his head in agreement at this one) The country spent more money than it had, lent more money than it could afford and people turned around, took that money and spent it on commodities they themselves could not afford and the viscous cycle landed us somewhere near 83,000 American jobs being lost in a mere 48 hours.
What is the solution? I have absolutely no idea and am hoping that the most brilliant economic minds sitting around that table today are finally able to ‘balance the sheet.’ In the meantime I will continue to thank my lucky stars that I am one of the more fortunate – that I still have a job and a good job at that. I will not take for granted the cup of Starbucks I so carelessly purchase every morning, grumble when the alarm goes off so early in the morning or complain about rush hour - because as long as I am still engaged in such activities, it means I am still employed and that is more than so many can say. And I am grateful.
Just before 9 am this morning my entire department was informed that a mandatory meeting was being held to share corporate wide information. Anxiety and tension blanketed the air like a thick July fog as busy minds began to speculate what was coming. Nearly every member on my floor was in attendance as the inevitable sentence was read, the crippling economy had finally taken its toll on Target and layoffs had been made. It was surreal, because even though our department was safe – for now – it was bittersweet. Shuffling out of that conference room was incredibly somber; it felt like a funeral.
As I sat back down at my desk I attempted to process the reality that not only was the economy crumbling but it had finally gotten a little too close for comfort. Just as soon as began my analysis I realized just how little I actually knew about the current financial state of our economy, how we got here and more importantly how we were going to get out.
I spent a considerable amount of energy trying to understand how it is that a nation with a culmination of the brightest minds, most advanced technology and arguably the most power in the world has let itself fall so deep into crisis that even asylum seems impossible now. And the reality being that it is going to take at least as long to get out of this mess as it took us to get in. I emphasis the word “us” because amidst disaster the finger pointing breaks out in epidemic and no one person can possibly be completely to blame - though I think we all know the one person so many are quick to cast the blame. Certainly that person who shall remain nameless does deserve a certain amount of the credit, but there are many at fault. Depending on who ask, what time of the day you ask or the intonation in your voice when you ask, you may hear different cause for the mistakes made; “the War”, “the Bush administration”, “the housing market”, etc, etc, etc.
The truth is there are likely many culprits here - but the overriding factor is that we broke a very simple rule, “do not live beyond your means – don’t spend money you don’t have.” (My dad is shaking his head in agreement at this one) The country spent more money than it had, lent more money than it could afford and people turned around, took that money and spent it on commodities they themselves could not afford and the viscous cycle landed us somewhere near 83,000 American jobs being lost in a mere 48 hours.
What is the solution? I have absolutely no idea and am hoping that the most brilliant economic minds sitting around that table today are finally able to ‘balance the sheet.’ In the meantime I will continue to thank my lucky stars that I am one of the more fortunate – that I still have a job and a good job at that. I will not take for granted the cup of Starbucks I so carelessly purchase every morning, grumble when the alarm goes off so early in the morning or complain about rush hour - because as long as I am still engaged in such activities, it means I am still employed and that is more than so many can say. And I am grateful.