Recession Friendly

Justin, I must say that the commercials you showed in your last post left me feeling confused as to whether I should laugh or be horrified. In addition, it also reminded me of my feelings for this recession.

Now, I've seen the news. I read the papers. I listen to Obama. I know what's going on in the economy. However, I'm either very fortunate or blissfully unaware, but I nor anyone that I know has been personally affected by this recession that we're in. I have not felt the effects of this downward facing national economy.

Granted, I work in higher education (which, along with health care, is one of few markets still thriving), and my boyfriend and our friends work mostly in the theater industry (which is always either slim pickings or extremely lucrative with not much gray in between). My family is in Mississippi, a state that is impervious to recessions or depressions because it's already perpetually-depressed state.

So, I apologize to anyone who has lost jobs or is in dire straights due to the fallout from the Bush administration, but I now find this recession to be rather funny. This is mostly due to the fact that everyone I know is using it as an excuse to be cheap. How many times have you heard some money-related statement immediately followed by the phrase, "We're in a recession, after all." I'm even guilty of it, and I make more money now than I did before the economy took a nosedive.

In fact, I feel we play even harder now that we're in a recession. Or maybe we just appreciate it more because we're aware of the money we're spending. Either way, this time period does seem to a time of partying, if just a lower key. After all, you can't spell "recession" without "recess".

Now if only I can get in on that stimulus package...