What Moose has described can also be applied to Spain. In my daily
life it is hard to see outward signs of the crisis, except all the
unsold houses and apartments--but they were there before as well.
Yes, unemployment is up to 15%, the highest rate in the EU, but that
still means that 85% continue to go to work every day etc.
Same with restaurants, people still go out, although from chatting
with a couple of the owners, business is down somewhat.
It is important to keep a sense of perspective.
Nathan
On 04/04/2009, at 0:41, Moose wrote:
> Wiliam Wagenaar wrote:
>> Hi guys,
>>
>> I have booked a holiday trip with the family to the US this coming
>> summer. Because of the currect economic state however I am having
>> mixed feelings.
>
> Great idea!
>
>> One half of my thoughts are about preparing for the trip and
>> wanting to ask you what to visit.
>
> The US is bigger than Europe. As you say the trip is already booked,
> what areas will you be visiting?
>
>> On the other hand I am wondering how welcome tourists are at the
>> moment.
>
> Regular stories here about how tourism is down, adding to economic
> troubles. San Franciso and many surrounding areas depend heavily on
> tourist spending. They will have open arms and welcoming smiles if you
> show up.
>
>> I keep hearing stories about people loosing their jobs and no
>> longer being able to pay their mortgage and
>> loosing everyhthing. Some have to live in tent cities. I know that
>> staying at home will not help anybody, but
>
> Story - Way back when, I lived near the UC campus during the Free
> Speech
> Movement, Peoples Park protests and such events. For most of those
> years, I had a roommate in my apartment. After he had married and
> moved
> to S. Calif., he called one night to ask how we (I was also
> married, and
> in the same apartment) were doing with the riots. I said "Huh, what
> riots?" He'd been watching on TV as some fools turned over trash cans,
> started fires, smashed windows, and so on.
>
> He said the state governor had declared a state of emergency and a
> curfew for Berkeley. I said it was completely quiet on our street
> and we
> were about to go out to a concert in town. He said something like '
> NO,
> no, Berkeley is burning. It's dangerous, you'll get arrested!" We went
> to our event, wished we had brought earplugs for the music, otherwise
> had a good time and went home. We saw no police, nor anything at
> all out
> of the ordinary.
>
> It turned out that, as "news" as entertainment purveyors are wont
> to do,
> the TV folks carefully chose camera angles to make a few, mostly
> drunk,
> folks making a mess on a couple of blocks of one street look like a
> major riot. And the newscaster's (term "news" in the context used with
> reservations) made it sound like it was the entire city.
>
> Lesson - Even someone who had been there during much greater
> disturbances was fooled by "news" reports.
>
> My own experience around my area is that things are pretty normal in a
> day to day way. Cars and people are out keeping the streets busy,
> people
> are eating out, buying things, etc. Yes, unemployment is up, from a
> normal 5-6% to 10-11%, but most people still have work to do, lives to
> live. And indeed, business is slower, more so in some segments than
> others. Chuck's report was on furniture stores. That's pretty
> discretionary spending. I was in Costco about 10 days ago, mid day,
> mid
> week, the parking lot was normally busy, as was the store, and it
> seemed
> pretty much business as usual. Low priced basics and consumables are
> still moving.
>
> We've eaten out a bit lately, as usual. It's hard to tell if
> restaurant
> business is down in the modest places we frequent, but there are
> certainly others also eating out when and where we are. Sure, more
> small
> businesses are probably in trouble or have failed lately than
> usual, but
> some are still starting up. We're really excited about at least
> one. The
> closest Starbuck's closed and a third branch of a small restaurant we
> love is opening in its place, much closer than the others. Whoopee!
>
> A much beloved local drug store and more upset lots of people when it
> closed recently. But they had embarked on a plan of expansion
> recently.
> I spent decades in the food and drug retail business. I thought they
> were taking big risks and in danger of failure even without an
> economic
> downturn. They went from one local store carefully tuned to a place
> that
> loved them to leasing and staffing separate offices and opening three
> new stores all in a short period. One of the new locations failed, as
> isn't uncommon (New store location and related areas were some of my
> specialties.) I'm sure they were stretched way too thin and over
> leveraged at that point. So sure, folks can blame it on the
> economy, but
> I think it was maybe 90% management error and 10% economy. If they had
> managed conservatively, no new office overhead, open one store at a
> time
> and get it profitable before the next, at least the original location
> would most likely still be operating.
>
> People are losing homes, but the number in tent cities in at least the
> vast majority of the country, is tiny. Most are finding alternate
> housing, not out on the streets. Our friend in mortgage trouble has
> been
> going back and forth with her lender, counselors, possible government
> programs, etc. for months. She's still in the house, although looking
> for a decent rental if she does have to go. But she is still eating,
> clothed, under a roof, driving around, etc. She's self employed, and
> business is down, but not out.
>
> In my immediate neighborhood, real estate sales are slower than
> normal,
> but houses are still selling for pretty much what they were going for
> before the meltdown. Again, news reports make it sound like the price
> losses are universal. I have yet to see a foreclosure sign in town.
> Not
> to say there aren't any, but they aren't everywhere.
>
> Too much talk, just to say come on over! Spend a little EuroCash,
> have a
> lovely time and do your small part to bolster the US economy. If
> you are
> near SF, I know a nice place in Berkeley with a pleasant guest room
> in a
> lovely, quiet neighborhood where you would be welcome to stay for
> free,
> leaving more money to spend on other things. ;-)
>
>> I feel like we might offend people because we are able to have a
>> holiday in the US. Last week I read on this list that in some
>> stores more staff was present than customers. That cannot be good.
>> What are the thoughts about this on the list?
>>
>
> So what, they are going to be angry at customers who do show up? No
> way.
> They will exhort you to buy things, but that's not new. :-)
>
> Moose
> --
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