The lesson in all of this is that if you're going to work for someone else and you don't want to have to worry about the business cycle, it might be a good idea to work for the post office, a toilet paper manufacturer, or as a hair dresser. Those three things continue, no matter what. Or you could become a teacher, politician, garbage collector, sewer worker, water works specialist...hey, there are jobs out there that never quit.
I heard one yesterday that gave me pause. A fellow told me that his 19 year old grandson went to the Navy recruiter and did some testing. It seems he qualified to be sent to a nuclear school of some type. According to the feller I was talking to, his grandson was given an enlistment bonus of $40,000 and an immediate E-6 rate. That all sounds a little too good to be true, but what do I know.
I guess I was lucky during my working years. There were business cycles, but I worked for a large industry that was never that badly slowed down. It also helped to be in maintenance where we took advantage of slowdowns to catch up on maintenance and constuction projects.
Anyway, I hope you guys that are feeling the pinch have a better year in 2009. My wife and I have been doing our best to boost the economy, which I think would be much better if the politicians and news media would quit telling us how bad it is.