Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid!!

I don't know about you all, but I'm frightened, really frightened! Lehman Bros. is gone, Merrill Lynch is selling itself to Bank of America, AIG is looking for cash, and I now own a piece of Freddie and Fannie. More concerning though is that the outlet malls are nearly empty. I saw it firsthand this weekend when we went to visit Patrick. I don't even know the name of the mall near his school but we usually make a stop there whenever we visit. Normally the stores and walkways are full of shoppers from the local area, upstate New Yorkers shopping tax-free, and Canadians looking for bargains; but this weekend was different. There were people, lots of them if you've never been there before; however, I noticed the difference and I'm sure the retailers have as well. There just didn't seem to be the pushing and shoving shopping frenzy that is typical and people seemed to be doing more looking than purchasing.

Along with the shopping downturn, there seemed also to be less business in the local restaurants. Usually the wait for a table is horrendous, but this weekend one of the restaurants we frequent actually took a reservation for us. I was amazed to say the least. It just seemed as though the general attitude was different; more accommodating and less hassled. The whole shopping and dining experience was abnormally enjoyable even though the cause is so scary. Though our household hasn't been much affected, except for the increased cost of gas and groceries, I'm beginning to feel the economic malaise begin to trickle down to the level where we all live. It's become more than just a news story on CNN, or a political issue to be debated. It's real, folks, really real! Some have called it the worst economic downturn since WWII.

But the part that scares me the most is the attitude of those to whom we look for reassurance - Wall Street. Oh, sure, we get a little jumpy when Wall Street gets jittery. But the tone today is more than the typical jitters; the tone today seems to be full of fear. And, I don't know about you, but when the financial power brokers on Wall Street are afraid, I pay attention. That being said, what do we do now? Do we put the little we have left in shoe boxes under our bed? Do we plant vegetable gardens so we can be assured of a food source when the money is gone? Six months ago those suggestions might have sounded absurd but now I'm not so sure.

Peace Out!