Leia, 16, New York
It’s weird how much the recession has actually effected me. My father lost his job at the end of last year (he worked for a bank, go figure) and it’s been a lot harder to sell our house with the whole housing market bubble bursting. My family and I have been trying to save money as much as we possibly can, especially since I plan on moving and going to college in the fall which is pretty expensive… It worries me a little bit, honestly. I’ve always been pretty well off so it’s a really new thing to get used to. Sometimes I feel like the stress is going to tear my family apart and other times it’s the complete opposite. I hate to see people struggle, let alone my own family. The recession has really put a toll on all of us. My dad especially, he has all this time now and has been working around the house a ridiculous amount!
I think about it constantly! How can’t I when there are “Recession Specials” all over the place? Sort of weird how it’s almost trendy… And it comes up a lot in conversation… I don’t notice it as much anymore because I feel like it’s become a normal thing to talk about now. ..It’s not so shocking as it was when we first started to go into it (obviously). These days we’re not talking about it as if it were the next Swine Flu, we’re discussing the effects and really taking the time to understand it and learn to cope with it since it’s affecting everyone everywhere.
I hate to pass by closed down shops…especially Mom & Pop shops. It’s going to be weird when the giant Virgin Mega Store is no longer going to consume half of Union Square. It’ll just be this vacant, oddly shaped building with nothing in it. Although it worries me, I think we’ll get out of it and hopefully soon… I’m still optimistic about the future though; we’ve gotten out of recessions before…so why not now? Things can’t go badly forever… Of course, I’m more careful now. Even if it’s 3 am and I am exhausted because I’ve been standing all day I’ll either walk home or take the subway. No more cabs for me. Looking at the rest of the year, and holidays and stuff, college is going to put quite a damper on my family’s bank account. My tuition is pretty expensive, even with the scholarship I got. We didn’t apply for financial aid (my dad’s own fault) so we’re stuck with what we’ve got. Luckily my parents saved up A LOT of money for college for me so I should be good for a while. I really want to go abroad this winter to Paris again but I’m making my own money to do it…. Oh, and I don’t compulsively shop anymore… I’m obsessed with sample sales more than ever before instead…
For my friend’s birthdays I’m sticking to making them things because I don’t have that much money. Same goes for family! I think, if you consider what the recession could mean for creativity, that there will be an overwhelming amount of new, amazing things being created. I think the telephone and other stuff like that was invented during times of economic problems right? Either way…I guess it’s “inspiring.” I’m excited to see what comes out of it. I reckon we’ll become creative. You need to rethink the way you live your life and change your perception around a lot to get through things like this… Whether it’s good or bad for society though, that’s hard to say… Stores and businesses will close…some people will be left dry. Despite all the awful things that come with recession, things do get better eventually (then they get worse…but then they get better again!). The way we all learn to spend, create, manage our time, social lives, art, etc will completely change. I don’t know in which way but it’s growing up. We’ll be tough, we’ll know what to do. As bad as it is, something good IS coming from it and that’s learning to cope and survive.
