because this isn't as bad as the depression and yet it totally sucks. Okay, so obviously they don't call it a depression for nothing, but it struck me this morning that the low-level stress of worrying about retirement funds, college funds, getting, having and keeping a job, the non-possibility of ever having that "vacation" you've been thinking about forever and never quite did, the expense of travel, lack of Christmas (which will, I'm sure Bill O'Reilly will agree, in fact usher in a whole new wave of actual religious celebration on the holiday....or not), the not going out to restaurants, the not buying new shoes but mending them instead, my pondering of learning how to sew because I don't want to shell out the money to hire someone to reline my wool coat....and so on in non-parallel fashion (apologies). all of these low-level, constant stresses mean that the world isn't all that fun right now. Thus my conclusion: The Depression must have been really depressing.
It makes me wonder when politicians begin thoughts with: Even if you haven't been directly affected by the economic downturn, you probably know someone who has...
What makes me stop for a moment is this: Of course we've all been affected. Of course we all know someone who has, probably really directly. Who are these people who don't? The answer, I fear, is the group of people who lead this country. Why do politicians still shape their rhetoric to account for the approximately .2 people who have not been effected? Perhaps they are trying to allow for the fact that our dog, Luke, does not truly feel the current economic downturn in any real way. They are trying to be inclusive of puppy-kind and their ilk within their economic policies. Or not. It indicates that there's still a desire to cling to a space outside of the downturn. Kind of like clinging to a "pre-9/11" mentality back in the day.
So a final thought: if the depression is depressing, is the recession recessing? And if so, to what age/time are we recessing? Or are we simply in a downturn, and so turning down (as in a hotel turndown service?) Thoughts?
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I can't remember where I read it, but someone suggested "The Great Recession," since we're all so loathe to call this a depression; also read/heard somewhere that recession didn't exist as a word until after TGD since people didn't want to use the word "depression."
What I'm feeling, as I'm on the cusp of leaving for Vegas, is recession guilt -- we're doing OK, but, after talking to our department secretary who is afraid of losing her job, I feel bad about.
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