Recession Proofing My Life: My Journal Day One
I have decided that we all need to Recession Proof our lives. The Great Recession as it seems is turning out to be a real live 2nd Great Depression. The number of massive job layoffs daily are so massive that even the most up beat of persons would sag their shoulders and scratch their heads and pray.
Today there was the announcement of Home Depot laying off 6,000 workers, and ING laying off 7,000, and a total of 40,000 lost jobs adding to the number of almost two million jobs lost already. To the new pink slip owners, they should receive unemployment benefits. For those that do not, that is where the Recession becomes a Great Depression and life gets really bad, really fast. I want to share my nightmare of being in the midst of this Recession without any income, no income other than what my son is able to send to me. And that ain't much.
The most unsettling thing is nobody knows how deep this Great Recession is or importantly, how bad it is going to get. We have a new president. A black president, an African American President. That is a wonderful thing, but the joy of this historical event will be short lived as this president has inherited the worst possible set of circumstances possible. And this horrific down slide of the economy is like a universal cancer, that is literally eating away at what was once America.
I have lost much of what used to a normal life. I have been forced to drastically change how I sleep, eat, and even shower and wash clothes. I have fought the good fight and and I still stand. But I would start to impart some of what I have learned along this nightmare, with others who may eventually succumb to no longer living, but surviving this decline. Just like the election of an African American man was enormously historic, this economic decline and decay is of historic proportions as well.
Since my decline, I find that everything is less. Less portions in the food on store shelves, less in the packaging, less actual in television viewing and programming, less in terms of events and concerts, less in every aspect that Americans have come to expect and enjoy.
In using less because I have less, I now reuse paper cups, and plastic spoons. I wash them. I no longer have left overs, and anything that I am able to cook is totally consumed and not thrown away. I wash my hair less. I sleep less because of the burden of uncertainty. I eat less because there is less to eat. I talk less on the phone because I can not afford to do more. I buy less dog food and my dog gets any crap of food that I myself can not eat. I use less water even when I flush, to save money. I use less toilet paper and all paper products in order to save and stretch everything that costs money. I use less deoderant, saving it and perfume for a time when I am surrounded by others. I use less make-up becaue there is no reason to dress up unless I am going to be around people or at a job interview. I find that I don't waste much of anything, not water, not soap. I use less of everything. I waste not but still want and need plenty. This entire economic Armageddon has changed how I live, and I no longer live. I survive.
Today, I survived another day. Day One!
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