Last Blogger

Apparently, the crack team of journalists at CNN have heard word that the US is in a recession. Once again, these people wonder why people like me watch Stewart & Colbert instead of the mainstream news shows… I mean really. This isn’t just an anecdote that they mentioned and moved on because it was so obvious. They’re putting in a ton of coverage on the fact that the US is now in recession. Seriously!

I suspect the 1.2 million people who lost their jobs in the US in 2008 (plus the 350 000 about to be announced for November) had an inkling that they might be in a recession. It’s also possible that the people behind the billions/trillions of dollars in various bailout dollars possibly considered that they were in the midst of a recession.

Thankfully, things don’t seem to be as dire here in Canada, though we are also in a recession. At least when they announced ours last week there was actually a question of whether we were already in one or whether we were about to start one. There was no question as to the short term outlook, but it was kind of hard to pin down just where we were in the process.

Unfortunately there’s not much to be done about a recession as an individual. The best you can hope to do is ride it out. The lucky amongst us will keep our jobs and only have to contend with cutbacks on our work budgets. Those not so lucky will either lose their job or have a hard time finding work. I really don’t have a whole lot of advice for anyone in that situation. If I find myself in that situation, my plan is try my best to do what I have to do to survive. At this point, I’d be eligible for some unemployment benefits which could string me along for a while. After that, if things still hadn’t panned out, it would be time to get a crappy job to make ends meet. I’ve had crappy jobs in my teens, but I have to admit that it’s been a while since I’ve had to do something I didn’t like for a living. When push comes to shove though, food and shelter is extremely vital to being happy, so if I’m not thrilled with my work, a full belly and a roof over my head will make contending with that minor detail much easier.

That reminds me, If you have the means right now, donate to your local food bank. They probably have dozens of different ways in which you can help them out, so you can find something that suits you. Food bank usage is way up throughout Canada and the US, but donations are dropping. There are hundreds of wonderful charities out there, but keeping families (in particular the kids) fed tends to trump most.