Shut Out the Lights

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One company after another seems to be pulling the plug right now. Hell, the NFL laid off some of their employees at the league offices. Airlines, automotive plants, banks, credit unions, small companies, large companies - everyone is ready to close the door on their employees, on their business, and on any future business. The national unemployment figures are at their highest since the Great Depression.

My grandparents lived through the Great Depression - my grandfather told the story of painting outhouses to put food on the table. I can't paint and as far as I know, there aren't any more outhouses in need of painting.

Are some of the people in power over-reacting? Will the economy get worse before it gets better? Don't these bail-outs with all the money attached help at all?

My wife's place of work is pulling the plug, and after 15 years, she will be let go along with hundreds of others. It was a job she worked hard at, and did real well, and despite the fact that she gave it her all - she's being sent packing. It's a hard lesson to teach the kids - "Get up, go to work, work hard, and get kicked the hell out."

Sure there are no guarantees in life, and those who want to work will find an opportunity, but in Western New York - and in a lot of other places in this great country - wanting a job is no guarantee that the one you find will match your talents.

I'm tired of kicking George Bush - I probably am wrong blaming him and his cronies for everything, but how does everything on your watch shit the bed?

Perhaps it all will get better in the not-to-distant-future. Maybe the American people will dig in their heels and come up with a long-term solution. Perhaps we'll travel down the road and find a big bag of money somewhere.

Day in and day out, people get up every morning, put in their time, and try to find a decent life for themselves and their families.

And now, every few minutes someone walks out of a building that used to be alive with production, and just before leaving they reach to the right of the door and shut out the lights - forever?

God, I hope not.

Never had less faith in the system then I do today.

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