Having just heard the news of bouncing's newly unemployed status, I feel like it's time to write something about it all, but I'm not sure exactly what. I was going to do a nice full movielog entry, but now, my mind just isn't into it, so a single paragraph will have to do.

There's been talk left and right about people losing jobs lately. On slashdot, on the radio, and even quiet, unofficial rumblings from other know-nothings like myself at my place of employment. But now, a case of the dreaded recession hits closer and more intensely than anything preceding it.

What can I say? I don't know what's going on. I could talk David C. Korten-inspired theory about how our modern economy is a big nasty setup devised by those who control the currency supply in order to dupe the majority of people into chasing (and giving labor for) an artifical resource whose value is continuously diminishing. That elusive pot of gold always just around the corner, hung there to make you keep going. Then when you get there, it disappears, and another mirage is placed just a little farther ahead.

I could likely be right about all of it (in my own ever-so-humble opinion). Even if I understood the whole sham completely, it doesn't change a damn thing when your brother is out of a job, and for all anyone knows, any of us could be next.

I consider whether it would be prudent to make a course correction in my own financial habits. Quit putting as much into ahead-of-schedule debt repayment and spending on fun things, and more in the bank so I can have enough to last a few months, just in case. God, now I almost feel guilty for having bought so many dvds recently.

But isn't that just the kind of behavior that makes things worse? People get all spooked that the money supply is going to dry up, quit spending any more than they absolutely have to, and lock the savings in the closet so that when the bad times come, they'll be ready. Naturally, with nobody spending money, more businesses go down, and we end up with an ugly bit of recursion.

Shit. It's just crazy. Money is just a stupid illusion anyway. Why should we base our whole lives around it? Why must it rule whether or not we can work productively, what we can work on, and how things get done? Why is it that people can't live their lives without constantly having to ask permission from a little piece of green paper?

I could sit and quote Trent Reznor yet again, but that would be getting redundant. I think I'll give up that diatribe now.

Context / topic switch.

Tonight after the movie, I went to 7-11. I'm not sure why, because I wasn't really very hungry. It just seemed like the thing to do. Maybe because it's a traditional mood-setting thing for me, or maybe because my psyche wanted reassurance after having been tweaked by the film's brooding flavor of old school terror. The multitude of fluorescent lights seemed like excessive brightness after having spent 2 hours staring at lamp-lit interiors and fog covered exteriors projected onto the moviescreen. Anyway, I was there.

I walked into the store, and the clerk was shuffling boxes around. New stock for tomorrow, no doubt. She looked up, made a big happy smile, and said hi. This one was definitely more energetic and outgoing than most clerks are when you come in for midnight snack. She chatted with me while I got my nachos and drink, and muttered about the phone when it started to ring. As I paid, she wished me a good night and said, "And enjoy the nachos. Actually, those really do look good." I agreed, thanked her, looked in her eyes for a second or two, and left.

Made a strong impression, I guess. She was cute, and anybody with that much exuberance is worth running into. I thought about asking for her phone number or something, but maybe it's just as well I didn't. Wouldn't have been appropriate anyway. Yeah, she was nice, but what worse way to reward friendliness to customers than for every idiot who wanders in during the night to start coming onto her? Better to just enjoy each moment for what it is, and move on. And exactly that's what I did. <sigh/>

Therein, another silly dilemma seems to present itself, but I don't feel like expounding or exploring that right now. The very mention of its existence almost spoils the richness of living it, so I think I'll just run the old "smile, nod, and back away" routine. Right. . . Now.

Now, with a stomach full of nachos, a head full of uncertainty about the future, and a paragraph above this one that makes absolutely no sense when I reread it, I'll happily sign off for the night.