I interrupt what would normally be another blog about holiday cheer and merriment to bring you some important news: The economy is bad. I know that is not really what you would call breaking news (an investigative reporter I am not!), but it is really and truly starting to freak me out a bit.
The city that I live near is a GM town. The automaker has contributed to the local economy in the form of jobs at their local plants as well as all of the jobs in the companies who tie their existence to the auto industry. This includes steel plants, engineering firms, auto supply manufacturers and the hundreds of other small businesses around town who rely on the auto makers for their livelihood. This is not a post about the auto industry, they are just one of the more recent victims of the recent economic downturn. I read an article on Yahoo last week that named the town 12 miles to the south of us as one of America's Top 10 Dying Cities.
I've been watching all the news reports on the economy, just as I know you have. Mr. Crackers & I (like countless other Americans) have watched our retirement accounts & kid's college funds dwindle to mere shadows of their former value. But for some reason none of this really started to freak me out until it started affecting our friends & family in a much more direct way.
About a month ago the woman who lives next door to me, who by the way is raising 5 boys between the ages of 10-17, lost her job. Did I mention that she is a single Mom, raising these boys on her own? Yes, her husband lives about 15-20 miles away, but he's not what you call "involved" in the finances or the actual hands-on raising of the kids. So, my neighbor has been hard at work trying to find a new job. She has been focusing her efforts on a couple of local universities, so that she can get reduced tuition for her boys when it comes time for college. She figures the salary cut she'll take will be more than off-set by the savings she'll get on their education. She's an attorney & one smart cookie. I am hoping that 2009 will bring her some good news in the form of a new job.
Today we heard some more upsetting news. The engineering firm where a good friend of ours worked was closed today. They shut their doors at 3:00 & told the employees that they hope to re-open right after the New Year. There was no advanced warning & there will be NO PAY until the company opens it's doors again. This family has 3 sons, 2 of whom are my son's very best friends in the whole world. We see them almost every day either during our daily carpool to school, in church or just running around the neighborhood. Tonight, we were supposed to go to a Christmas light display together in a neighboring town to soak up some holiday cheer. Instead they will be sitting down to figure out how to make the money they have in their bank account last them until the next paycheck comes.
They are a single income family like we are, so I know it will be extremely tight. We've invited them over for dinner tonight & we will do whatever we can to help them through the next few weeks. I hope they decide to come and eat with us. We will pray and keep our fingers crossed that the plant opens back up in the New Year and that his job & pay will be restored.
I could go on about other people who have been affected by this downturn - whether they be relatives of our friends or other neighbors (I won't even mention here my parents who are just 1 year into retirement & have already seen the value of their investments plummet more than I can fathom. Ooops, well I guess I did just mention it, didn't I?). These are truly freighting times.
Mr. Crackers & I have have been trying to tighten our own belts just in case. We have racked up some debts of our own while I have taken off work the last few years to stay home with the kids. We figured that we would get ourselves back into the black once I rejoined the workforce in a few years. But I am now afraid we might not have a few years to wait. We need to get ourselves in a better position financially now, just in case we get caught up in this whole mess too. I fear that no matter what we do it will not be enough. As we discussed all of these goings on earlier, Mr. Crackers & I decided that we need to do more - so we will be joining our good friends and try to live off much less. I'm not sure how we will do it, but until things turn around in the economy we need to make it happen.
I know that it might be a bit early to start talking about wishes for the New Year. We haven't even gotten to Christmas yet, but as this is all happening now, I'm going to do it anyway. So here is my wish for 2009: I hope that it brings more security (whether that means financial security, better health or keeping you and those you love out of harm's way) to all of us. I think we all could use it.
Now, we return you to your normally scheduled programming of Christmas Merriment.
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