Earlier this week
Mr Greenspan used the
'R' word, analyst were up in arms, waving his commentary off, the rants of an old man well past his prime, they said. How dare you Mr Greenspan use such abominable words as recession to describe our strapping economy. An economy so promising one would think, for a moment, that we were reliving the late nineties all over again. Oh well, the first
Dow correction was written off as a glitch in the system, the second dip was a nuance, we would put that on the account of unscrupulous China. There is no point arguing with the Economists who have successfully predicted 10 out of the last 5 recessions. My focus is on the guy on the streets, the broker, the sales person, the account manager and the relationship manager. I am talking about the Blackberry Soldier.
The Blackberry Soldier..
The blackberry wielding, PDA flashing, smart phone flipping, messenger bag carrying individual, he comes complete with a sweet mouth. He has the paraphernalia of the busy and multi-tasking squad. His income depends solely on how many emails he can reply in sixty seconds. He is risk loving, and earns a premium on the risk.
The Slaughter...
Since November of '06, the soldier has been at war with the economy, hanging on for dear life. This week the battle was lost, it was a massacre, there is blood on the streets. Three major investment banks closed shop today, thousands of workers in finance lost their jobs today. The soldier was left with not barrack to retire to. Imagine this, you arrive at work in the morning and there is a notice on the door, all operations are suspended, and you find yourself without a job. Management didn't have the decency to allow the staff to reyrieve clippings of Homer Simpson on the office bulletin board.
The warriors dilemma...
How will the bills get paid? Mortgage, car note, Brooks Brothers credit card, black-berry bill, LOL. I should not be laughing, this are perilous times. Suddenly that aerodynamic Saab becomes a burden rather than a status symbol. Chei... if only he was informed of things to come, shey he would have chilled on the happy hour thing, saved some money. All those burnt bridges, friends abandoned forthe sake of the 'career'. Missed family hook-ups and cook-outs, all for the sake of climbing the corporate ladder.
Capitalism will play the working class over and over, leaving us with the short end of the stick. We shrug it off, and we live to fight another day. My heart goes out to all those who lost their jobs today and throughout the month of February. I leave you with the sound track from Hustle & Flow, It's hard out here for a pimp...