"No Lasagna for You" - Personal Observations of the Recession, Part 1

This past week I unfortunately had three experiences that, while each was of seemingly minor significance, were probably my first direct encounters with the recession of 2008. Don't get me wrong, my wife and I both have secure employment and a high combined salary. We're not anticipating personal financial hardship any time soon. But since I am conviced that the recession of 2008 is going to turn into the depression of 2009, I thought I should begin catagorizing my experiences as things worsen.

As I've stated, I live in Fairfax County, Virginia, which according to the Census Bureau is currently the wealthiest in the country (as measured by Median Income). If it gets bad here, you can bet it is even worse elsewhere. At any rate, here are the first of my personal observations of the recession:

1). "No lasagna for you" - a group of coworkers and I stopped for lunch in a locally owned dive restaurant in Prince George's County, MD. One of our number ordered the lasagna, only to be told that they were out. He grumbled that he had been a patron of the place for nearly 20 years, that he always ordered the lasagna, and that they had never been out before. The rest of us laughed and told him to order the pizza instead, which he did. But I couldn't help but wonder if the recent dramatic increase in the price of pasta wasn't the reason this little greasy spoon was out of lasagna.

2). Shuttle service cutback - the organization I work for is spread out over multiple locations in D.C. and Arlington, VA. To enable employees to easily move around between offices, there has always been (in the 16 years I've been employed there) reliable shuttle service between offices every 15 minutes. On Friday, a cutback in service to approximately every 20 minutes was announced. This despite the fact that there has been no decrease in employment in my organization. No doubt spirialing gas prices were a factor.

3). Just today, I was picking up a suit I purchased a few weeks ago from a national retail outlet for my niece's upcoming bah mitzvah. The salesman who sold me the suit saw me and came up to shake my hand. Making polite conversation, I commented that at least the sunny Spring-like day outside must be good for business. He frowned and replied that no, in fact business has been very bad.

Like I said, individually these stories don't seem like much. But I'm certain that I'll be experiencing more like them and worse going forward.