Stores are crowded again;Sign things are looking up

[teach1rusl]

Diane...I agree with you. My grandpa will be 99 in February, and has a better memory and probably a sharper mind than I do (good for him, sad for me...lol). He still gets up just about every day and goes out to the farm to "tinker." It's fascinating to hear his views of the great depression. And he said the exact same thing. A depression today would NEVER be like the great depression, because of all of the social programs. People today (including myself...who grew up "poor") don't know what "poor" really is, because we have food stamps, welfare, medicare, medical clinics, unemployment, etc. available. So few in our country truly "go without" today, which is good!
We have hard times, and we have struggles, but we still have it so much better than our grandparents did. I live in southern Indiana, and work in Louisville, Ky. I do see quite a bit of spending going on around here. A few among my dh's family have gone through layoffs, and my own dh has taken a bit of a paycut. But new washers are being bought, vacations are still being taken, going out to eat is still popular (all in my extended in-law family). So things could definitely be worse...

Chickabator...wow! Groceries are higher in your area than mine! And LOL...the musical fruit. Been a while since I've heard that one. I grew up on pinto beans, so we had the "good for your heart" version of that rhyme too!!!

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Around here, people are starting to "pretty-fy" their yards again this fall. Lots of mums, hay bales, scarecrows, bows, etc.

ETA: ... despite a 1% tax hike for NC state taxes.

 

[Bluemoon420]

I think it depends where you live. We went out last week riding around, and stopped a quite a few stores. The busiest places were salvation army store, and the dollar store. The other places we stopped at were department type store, and they were empty. Normally, you will see stores around this time of the year put up signs for seasonal help, and not one was hiring.

Michigan's unemployment is VERY high right now. I think it's higher than most of the country. The numbers they report are probably lower then what they actually are, since a lot of folks benefits ran out, and they just stopped looking for now.

I do hope things pick up soon. It will be nice to see folks who need jobs, get jobs.

Bluemoon

 

[deb1]

My neighbor was out of work for nearly a year and went through his savings. Just this week he was offerered three decent paying jobs!

 

[saddina]

Here the stores look busier, but that's because there's less cashiers, so the lines are longer. I think in several cases, people have put off buying things since things began to go down, and now are slowly replacing them (example, it's just now cooling down here, instead of back to school shopping in Aug, the kids wore thier summer things, and now I'm just buying longer pants, thier coats from last year still fit).

 

[DianeB]

Quote:
There was two or three cashier in each store that last several months and today. In comparison, the lines were much longer and the carts fuller. Also, the roads are starting to get crowded again. There aren't less roads so I assume that more people are out.

DB

 

[lilshadow]

Nothing good here. I was layed off on Sept 30 which was the second lay off for the company I worked for. Things are still bad here where I live. It is paycheck to paycheck for us. Hopefully it will start getting better soon. Groceries are way high priced here. when you buy the cheapest things, and come home with 2 plastic bags of food that cost 45.00 then that is bad.

 

[WalkingWolf]

Unemployment is the highest it has been in years. Walking malls and department stores is cheap entertainment. This thing is not over by a long run it has been 50 years in the making, though I wish things were better I cannot see how spending is a solution by us or by the powers that be. Spending is what put us in this mess.

 

[Q9]

Quote:
Please, PLEASE tell me you are joking. Hoover believed in a free market? He CAUSED the depression with his attempts to manipulate the markets. Want proof? Here's a quote from him.

"We might have done nothing. That would have been utter ruin. Instead, we met the situation with proposals to private business and to Congress of the most gigantic program of economic defense and counterattack ever evolved in the history of the Republic."

Now, what were you saying about Hoover loving free markets? We do not, repeat DO NOT need to do any "stabilizing." Markets regulate themselves, if allowed to. We haven't had a truly free market since... wow, Harding, and maybe not even that recently. Until the market is allowed to operate freely without manipulation by the government, in particular the Federal Reserve (

), this "roller coaster" will continue. Also, these "pessimistic naysayers" as you call them PREDICTED this whole stinking mess. Look up "Peter Schiff was right" on YouTube. It has clips of him predicting (years ago!) this mess, and getting LAUGHED AT. Ron Paul and Thomas Woods predicted it as well. Government safeguards is an oxymoron. There has been no improvement in the government since the 30's. I sure don't see any government shrinking, anyway. Government just messes the economy up. It needs to back off from the economy and stick to its assigned role in national defense.

END THE FED!!!

GO RON PAUL!

 

[DianeB]

To be honest, I justed wanted to post something that people will find uplifting in hard times. Please, do not ruin it by posting such negative comments.

No, I am not joking when I believe that our economy will not end with a slight economic downturn. I prefer to be hopeful and look on the brightside.

DB