I'll give you a pint of milk for a bushel of wheat

In the past month, more than half of my friends have been laid off. It's insane. I know more people without jobs than with them. Seriously.

It's freaking me out! I feel like my whole view of the world is different. I'm actually scared. I'm sure it's not as bad as that, but I feel like at any moment everyone is going to be living in their parents' basements, reverting to the barter system to get grain and milk.

It's weird. I've been pretty optimistic about being unemployed lately. Not that I think I'm going to find a job, but that i can make some good changes in my life. Then I get another phone call from a friend that just got laid off, and then another and another.....and I start looking out the window like an old crazy lady. Not really "looking" as much as maybe "peering". And I mean...why? What do I think I'm going to see? Balls of fire falling from the sky?

All I know is that every time a friend gets laid off, all I can say is, "I'm sorry. I know...it sucks. Bitches need to calm down! Beers this week?"

I am going out for a lot of beers this week.