The noticeable effects of this Recession

Date: March 10th 2009

Time: 9.43pmPlace:

At Home - Queens, NY

Previously when I took public transportation (MTA Trains) to work it used to be so packed, some days you had to wait on another train to get on and at other times if you did manage to squeeze yourself in the door, getting a seat was just a wishful thought. I remember the sidewalk was so crowded and at lunch time the wait to be seated in a restaurant could go up to half an hour this we endured since it was more or less the same everywhere else in midtown Manhattan. I endured and accepted this as part of living and working in this city and never thought that it would change in my life time. You see even though the recession took its toll gradually this trend did not follow pattern (I might wrong but this is how it played out to me) but very recently I noticed that the opposite is happening and it is very glaring. I know that the News networks did report a drop in restaurant income and also for other stores and companies but again it’s only very recently that I noticed this glaring difference. Now I can go directly to my table and be seated for lunch and wow what a difference on the subway, I am always seated now. Don’t get me wrong there are still some odd days that the crowd shows up but definitely not as frequently as before. Yes folks I am now convinced that we are experiencing something different and it is not looking good. Maybe it took a while to hit me because thank god I am still working or maybe it is because I am slow? I remember reading a quote once (I don’t remember who wrote it) “a recession is when your neighbor loses his or her job and a depression is when you lose yours. Maybe it could be that I was in such a mindset, I am not saying its right to think as such but that is what happened to me. Now I know better.