last night i went to the mall and the target sitting right across from the mall. it’s the holiday season! both places were pretty void of people and maybe more importantly, people lining up at the cash registers. maybe it was just a tuesday night. that’s what i would like to think. but in reality, i think it was just this economy. i’ve definitely visited target on a week night before and been astounded at the amount of people there.

this morning i started reading about the auto bailout once again. yeah, i know congress said no. but the issue hasn’t gone away. do you think the Big Three are really and truly concerned about the people who will suffer from a failed american auto industry or are the CEOs of those huge companies just using that as a scare tactic, to make themselves look better in front of those they’re asking money from- like the bailout is for someone and something greater than themselves? the top dogs are still top dogs in the end. i doubt any of the big guns in the banking industry walked away worrying about how they’re going to pay for their mortgages or put food on the table. but those they laid off most certainly did. and what about those countless companies that cant even ask for a government bailout? what do they do?

on the flip side, gas prices are slipping everyday. wait, does that count as a flip side to all this? i’d like to think that after the astronomical prices we paid at the pump this summer, people have been learning and changing their oil consumption ways. i think they have. or am i looking at the world through rose-colored glasses?

then again i just went and conducted a fare search for a cross country flight for next february and balked at the prices they were asking for. what the- ? i don’t get it.

it all makes me feel uneasy. when we were kids, we learned that what we do and say can and most often will affect other people. vice versa. over the years, it’s been proven to me more times than i can count. as i see our economy falter and in some cases, even crumble around me, i cannot help but get a nervous twitch. when will i start to get affected by all this- have i already in ways i haven’t even realized? there’s no way i can remain immune to what’s going on in the grander scheme of things. right? but when exactly will it hit me square in the nose? and will i be ready for it? will you?