Christmas in Delaware this year must have broken some kind of record in low sales. The parking lots were half full and those 'shopping' weren't carrying many bags. Christmas eve is usually our best day of the season with all the guys doing their last minute bauble shopping, not so this year. Ours was a dismal sales day. No spiked eggnog this year to celebrate the great holiday sales, because there were few.The grocery stores and restaurants were empty, too. After work I drove into town to check the mail and the streets were practically empty. The drive home was strange because there were few cars on the road - not good signs that the economy is turning around, and on January 1, 2010 there will be four more people out of work here. The jewelry store closes for good at 6 pm on New Year's Eve with no other possibilities on the horizon for any of us. Two of us have other PT jobs to help get us through, but the other two have nothing to look forward to any time soon.
Normally, Thursday the 31st. would find me at the store but I can't face it and will end my employment on Monday, December 28 - and move on. Too sad after a dozen years working together there will be many tears and I don't want to be a part of that. Don't mean to be a downer because, truth be known, I am ready for a new challenge and positive change in my life - again. I feel really sad for the others I've worked so well with all these years. It's going to be a scary road, but a new door will open for us, I am sure. Which reminds me of this song from a Sondheim Show many years ago sung by one of his favourite leading ladies:
We're expecting heavy rains beginning tonight (at least it isn't snow!) and temps have been rising steadily since last evening. The snow and ice are finally melting so the roadway should be less dangerous tomorrow. All in all, a very gray Christmas day. There is a pork roast simmering on the stove which should be done by early afternoon to be enjoyed with baked sweet potato, and salad. Then maybe a movie to round out the day.
Meanwhile the cold lingers, as does the coughing jag. Nothing seems to have any long-term effect on this bug. Still, I'm better than I was last week, so that's something.
Here's hoping for a better life in 2010 for us all.
More later.
Here come the clichés (and I know how you LOVE clichés.) "As one door closes, another opens." So far, everyone I've known who has lost a job has gotten another job. Almost always the new job doesn't pay as well as the old job but it is a new job. And for the most part, my friends have been happier in the new job, even though the pay was less.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to find that you are in a good frame of mind about this change that is about to take place in your life. I have absolutely no doubt that you will continue to land on your feet. With your pizzazz and gumption there just is no other possibility for The Cajun!
As you may or may not know, my hours have been cut back again at the hotel. Now I'm not even on the schedule but instead, "on call." I will probably still work as many days as I have been working the past month or two during this economic slowdown. It just won't be on a regular schedule. I'll be filling in for my co-workers who are taking of for one reason or another.
Not in my lifetime have I ever seen an economy such as this that affected such a wide range of people. I knew there were recessions before but they affected mainly manufacturing workers. The Wizards (i.e., crooks) of Wall Street have completed their total rape of the middle class of this country. We are all totally fucked now. Hopefully, sometime in our lifetime we will see recovery. But I'm not holding my breath (have to end with a cliché don't you know?)
So I am not the only one who noticed it. There were fewer people in the stores, the carts were emptier than usually, and the bags were smaller and less numerous. At our house it was very quiet and difficult to get into the spirit of the season at all. It was all a bit forced. With every dollar we spent, we wondered if this will be the dollar missing to pay the mortgage or the electric bill.
ReplyDeleteWhile oftena door opens somewhere when another closes - it just feels as if the timelapse between the two is way too long these days, leaving many people in limbo.
I am glad when 2009 is over and I look forward to 2010 - hopefully a brighter 2010 for all of us.
(hugs)
I hope new doors and happy opportunities soon open for you!
ReplyDelete