Economics 2002.

September 30, 2002 | 2 Comments

I’m in a bad mood. This whole recession business has got me down. Let me tell you why - and be patient - I’ll get to the point quick enough.

I got in from Vegas just in time to flip on the radio and hear that the Seahawks were crushing the Vikings, and that Shaun Alexander, who I happen to have on one of my fantasy football teams, was looking to break an NFL record with 5 touchdowns already in the first half. He didn’t do it, but it was an amazing game.

Anyway - This morning I flipped on my radio once more, and tuned into our local sports radio, ready to hear some pumped up Seahawks fans, and maybe some burned out Mariners fans all talking sports. Turns out that instead they were saying goodbye to the co-host of the morning show. He’d been laid off.

It hammered home just how hard we’ve been hit here in Seattle. I would have never thought that the problems we we’re having would run this deep and effect so many people. They began talking about how Osama bin Laden was to blame, when you really thought about it, and that it was a shame that this stuff has to happen. They we’re right. It really is a shame.

I can relate, in many ways, to how he is feeling. I lost my job over at Connexion on September 18th or so, 2001. But I knew I’d be losing my job at around 7:30 AM, the morning of September 11th. Our work was so intertwined with the airlines, I had no doubt I’d be let go. At the time, it was the least of my concerns, I had friends and family in NYC - my job status just wasn’t on my mind, I knew I was going to be let go and had accepted that without a second thought.

Fast forward to right now - I’m sitting here on my lunch break, thinking how lucky I am to have a job. There are so many good people in my city, and elsewhere around the country, who have had to put their careers on hold. It’s not just Web type people either, although we were hit really hard. I think it’s pretty much everyone.

I’d like to think that my skills, experience, work ethic and personality are what kept me from the unemployment line, but I have to say that, even with all that, I feel so lucky to be working now. The fact that I enjoy the place I come to work every day - at least for the most part - it’s the icing on the cake.

I hope and pray that things will get better, and most of the time I just keep working, watching and waiting - hoping that friends of mine will get themselves back in the game. Hoping that my city will get back to the way it’s supposed to be. Most of the time I can put what happened to my country, my city and my people behind me and look toward the future. Today I’m just pissed off and bumbed out.

Filed under: Life and Such