Mar

9

By Monday morning, we’re ready for the workweek to be over

Posted by Dan

March 9, 2009 |

This weekend, my wife and I convinced my parents to come to our house and watch our two sons for the weekend. This allowed us to take a weekend getaway with some friends.

It was a nice, and much needed, break from the sometimes maddening duties of raising kids and making a living.

During our dinner on Saturday night, though, much of the talk centered on the econony and the lack of hope anyone saw for a quick turnaround. Someone was quick to remind everyone that it took the United States 10 whole years to recover during the Great Depression. Try enjoying your bleu cheeseburger with that nose rattling around your head.

None of my friends have lost their jobs. But they’re all worried that they might. One friend, who works at a major banking company, said he’d grown to hate Mondays. That’s when his company holds their weekly meetings, and these days it’s all bad news. By 10:30 in the morning on Monday, he says, he’s ready for the week to be over.

That’s grim. It’s also grim that the U.S. unemployment recently soared to its highest rate since 1983. The rate now stands at 8.1 percent, and more than 12.5 million U.S. residents are now out of work.

Nothing seems to be helping the economy right now. I’m starting to think that it’s just going to take time. The country has to work through the recession naturally. Government stimulus packages, I fear, are going to have little impact.

I did have a nice weekend, though, despite the gloomy job talk. I feel fortunate that my wife and I were even able to afford a weekend away. Many more U.S. residents probably can’t fathom that right now.


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