Economic Sense

i know economy has been on bad terms for couple of months
but past few days, i finally saw the true extend of this bad economy
as u all probably know, Mervyn's is going out of business
and they have been having "going out of business" sale

few years ago, many other stores had "going out of business" sale
but they never closed
so i thought Mervyn's was the same
plus they said it was "sale" but many of the stuff were same prices

3 days ago, i was out with my sister and my parents and they wanted to stop by Mervyn's
to see if any deals are good
when we went in the store
there was nothing
everything was on sale
even the shelves and other furniture that the store used to display goods were for sale
many other businesses like Lining N' Things near by closed down
and now Steve and Berry's are closing
and many new small businesses are struggling to get things started
this ramen store was scheduled to open by November, but it still hasnt
upon seeing these bad things i understood how serious and how fast this economy is effecting us

even worse, my dad's close friend/co-worker lost his job
and he was struggling to find a job despite having long years of experience
he needed to get a loan because he did not want to see his kids go without Christmas presents
he horrible thing is that, he is not alone, there are thousands just in California who are struggling to find a job and struggling to support their family during the holidays

also people are not celebrating holidays
yesterday i was with friends
we were talking about what we are doing for holidays
everyone of us were staying home, usually, many of us would go snowboarding and go to Las Vegas or go visit relatives but this year, due to slow economy, everyone is
staying home

another thing
gas rose slightly
many are predicting another price hike, i hope it doesnt

may all of you have safe and happy holidays