The Bright Side

The recession is not fun.  It has affected my life quite a bit.  I think about the state of the economy all the time, and I know it's just terrible and sad.  However, I am a believer in GirlTuesday's philosophy.  I can't help but think of the positives in life during this gloomy economic period. I choose to focus on all that is wonderful in my life.  I hope I'll always be able to do that, no matter what difficulties I face.  Here are some of the things that help me realize that I should be a happy person:

1. After a long, stressful day at work that had me really wound up, HusbandFriday suggested we head to Borders for a walk-around (a favorite pastime of mine) and encouraged me to purchase a French pop CD that lifted my spirits.  I don't know what I'd do without my buddy there to force me out of pouty moods.

2. My husband was away last weekend, and MomFriday insisted on me calling her constantly. If I went out at night, I had to call her when I got home.  I had to call her when I woke up in the morning.  I got several check-in calls from her during the day.  Perhaps most professional 28- year old women wouldn't be crazy about such doting, but I love it.  My mom will never stop being obsessively concerned about my welfare and happiness. It may be slightly annoying at times.  But it's a true blessing.

3. I have so many friends I can count on.  They make me laugh (another favorite pastime) and are so wholly there for me whenever I need them.  It is truly miraculous.

4. I have the best dog in the world.

5. I am healthy, as are most of my loved ones.  I have plenty to eat and clothes to wear.  I even have some pretty fabulous purses.

6. I love television, movies and music and have plenty of access to all of it.  

7. Oh yeah, I have a job.  If that changes, you may have to call me on my optimism.  Until then, I'm happy.

The Recession (sorry couldn't come up with anything wittier)

I have seen the recession hit the hardest at my job. I work for a large, national, privately-owned company with about 65,000 employees. Being privately owned was an area that our company took a lot of pride in. The company was started in 1957 and had never laid a single person off in the 50+ years they had been in business. This last year that all changed. We laid off about 4,000 people nationwide. People were nervous about the security of their jobs, lots of areas were restructured, pay freezes were implemented, and the office overall felt like a cemetery. People were walking around lifeless, afraid to talk to anyone!!

I work in the outside sales division for the company. I knew as long as I was performing my job wouldn’t be in jeopardy…they need the sales people to bring in revenue! Traditionally, within any company, I think the finance and sales positions are usually the safest. People need finance guys to operate the business successfully and they need the sales people to bring in the revenue.

However, this still was posing a challenge!! I work directly with other large and small businesses to generate revenue. Due to the recession/tightening economy/whatever you want to call it…many businesses are very ‘hesitant’ right now to move forward with any kind of purchases. Keep in mind, last year I brought in nearly $4,000,000 in revenue for our company. These are large purchases my customers are making! Needless to say, I spent a lot of time and hours getting creative and coming up with solutions that would help to increase cash flow for my customers, but still allow them to make their quarterly purchases with us.

Things seem to have slowly been getting better. It seemed as though after the first of the year, people were more willing to move forward with projects associated with their business. However, businesses are still downsizing and laying people off, which can affect us directly. I have learned that the relationships you build with your customers can be the most important thing during these hard times. If they can trust you to come in and make recommendations that will positively impact their business then you can stay successful.

GW Took the How Much In Denial are You Quiz...

I don't want to think or write about the recession anymore.  Enough already.

If you read my post last week, about how I tend to laugh more often in the face of misery, sadness and fear, then you might be onto the fact that I'm usually in a bit of denial.  Sounds like it could be dangerous to be blissfully ignorant-- but I think it's what gets me through the day, and all the big, bad things life throws around.

I've found that Facebook is a really great place to not think or write about the recession.  

In Facebook land, my friend just learned "what type of legal document" he is.  I mean, that's amazing!  He's a Res Ipsa Loquitor.  I have no idea what that means, but wow what a personal milestone.  Another friend took another quiz and found out she hates George W. Bush!  I think she already knew that (I think her whole Facebook universe already knew that), but I'm so glad she took a quiz and found out for sure!

On Facebook, my friends are: trying to fall asleep but can't, waiting for "CSI Miami" to come on, saying happy birthday to his "homie," squealed like a pig, doing homework, going to the dojo, quoting Elvis, cheering on the Rangers--  NO ONE is talking about the recession here!  I LOVE this place!  

I have four friends following illness:  one woman is doing physical therapy exercises after foot surgery, my old English teacher is chronicling his diet before a colonoscopy, a coworker is sitting next to her sister recovering from a stroke, and a mom is worrying about her daughter's dental problems.  But I don't think any of these things are actually serious, because all these friends will be writing about something else a few minutes from now.  

Just about all the girls from my high school have at least one toddler; and my former CEO announced his wife's positive pregnancy test 5 minutes ago.  OMG, I had no idea what cereals that girl from 10th considered her top five, and in what order.. I probably would put Lucky Charms first, but whatever.  Oh cold.  Someone is so mad about a baseball game he used lots of exclamation points and now his friend is egging him on by being happy about the same baseball game and also using exclamation points.  That is so rude!  Refresh.  God I love vaguely suicidal status updates-- that one girl really wants someone to ask her what's wrong but no, I won't do it.  Someone should reply that they're "praying for her" and hope another status update interrupts the awkward silence.  Watch out someone just threw a chicken!  You know what, I changed my mind- I am a little uncomfortable when the pregnant girl is posting that she needs someone to cuddle with.  

In this matrix there's no talk of layoffs, dissolving 401k, or shrinking savings here.  In fact, people are sending each other cupcakes and mobile uploads and growing gifts and wall graffiti! People are out and shopping.. see? Everything's fine.   

  

Glass half-full

I work with a Partner at my law firm who is fond of characterizing potential weak points in a client’s case as “opportunities for argument refinement.” The first time I heard him say it, I could not help but chuckle and the superb simplicity of the statement. Only a lawyer would offer such a swift turn of phrase in an effort to regain a superior negotiating position. As a relative novice to the field, I still have a tendency to call it like I see it—why kid yourself, right?

But after I stopped giggling, I realized that he was on to something much bigger. His words echoed the same tone that the director of my swim camp used to repeat year after year—you do not have problems, you only have opportunities.

What opportunity, then, does this recession present? The same partner has me working hard on deadline this week, so my reflections are necessarily short, but here’s my attempt at coming up with all the bright sides to a depressed economy.

1. The interest rate on my student loans is remarkably low
2. HT and I stand a decent chance of actually being able to afford buying a home within the next year or so.
3. There has been a revitalized interest in public service among a generation that had often looked such a professional path.
4. As GirlFriday noted last week, it has become chic to be a homebody.
5. It’s a buyer’s market for sports cars.
6. The decline in preventive healthcare means that it’s easier to get a doctor’s appointment on short notice.
7. Sweet deals available at foreclosure sales.
8. Tee times are more readily available at the golf-course.
9. The people behind me in line at the grocery store have stopped huffing and puffing when I pull out my stack of coupons.
10. When the economy is tanking, you actually don’t mind working until 10pm on a Sunday night because you’re thankful to have work to be doing. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself. . .

The Recession and Michael C. Fina

Even though I’ve certainly touched on the recession in several other posts, I’m glad to be able to do it again. Because of the nature of work I’m in, it’s always on my mind.

I interact with people every day who don’t get preventative health care for their children because they don’t have the money or insurance or common sense enough to do it (or all three). I went across the hall to the Food Stamp office last week to check in with one of my managers and found staff taking up money to buy snacks from the vending machine for a family that hadn’t eaten in two days. The unemployment rate in my home state hit 10.8% for March – that means hundreds of thousands of people who are drawing down savings, racking up more credit card debt, putting off mortgage payments or getting evicted, and having to choose between gas for the car, food on the table, or diapers for the baby. These are really tough times for a lot of Americans, and I have to constantly remind myself that not everyone works where I do (but should, just once in their life, spend a day at our front desk). But that doesn’t mean we should all be spending like it’s 2004.

I know many people who have gotten married in the last 12-18 months, and I was happy to spend money on a gift to help them celebrate the occasion. While indulgences are certainly commonplace on registries (as, perhaps, they should be!), I am somewhat shocked when one of my friends asks for people to pay hundreds of dollars for coffee pots, gravy boats, flatware, and pomegranate Seders (I’m not Jewish, so I don’t know if $565 is appropriate for that or not…) when there are people and organizations out there going broke.

So what breaks my heart is that I have a friend (who shall remain nameless, although if he, for some crazy reason, ever reads this blog, he’ll know who I’m talking about) who is getting married. It’s not sad that he’s getting married (in fact, it’s wonderful!), what’s so crazy is his wedding registry. I do not attempt to blame anyone for this extravagance; it is certainly within their right to register for whatever they desire. And in fact, it may be all her doing, so no need to point a finger at him. This is just my subtle reminder that right now, when people are hurting, showing a little restraint is appreciated.

Anyway, back to the registry. There are over 300 items on a collection of three registries: Fancy Major Department Store, Uber-Fancy Kitchen Store, and some place called Michael C. Fina. I don’t know Michael personally, but he makes some very nice items. Where else can I buy an ice bucket (with tongs!) for $200? Or a single china dessert plate (1 of 8 requested) for $210? Where I live, $200 can provide 200 meals at the local food bank or 100 meals to elderly and disabled folks through Meals on Wheels (their waiting list has now topped 150 people). The Fancy Department store registry holds their second set of china (this one out of 12) and a dessert plate here will set you back $184. The gravy bowl’s a whopping $246, which will work out to $123 a serving for each time they make gravy in their lives…..They’ve also registered for everyday china (thankfully more in my price range) although it causes me to wonder who they’re going to be having over with their three sets of dinnerware. The bride and groom have certainly covered all of the bases for registering for enough items, and thankfully around a hundred or so of those items are under a hundred dollars – well done.

I’m not asking everyone, including my friend and his fiancée, to think like I do, just to realize that for the cost of just one $330 stainless steel roasting pan or one $370 12-quart stock pot, you can provide assistance to a family facing eviction. So think about that next time you’re using your 10 qt stock pot.