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Bad things happen all the time, here in the U.S. and around the world. It seems like every day there’s a headline about a mudslide consuming a remote village, or a bus overturning, or a bomb exploding, or a plane crashing. Nobody likes hearing these things, but when they don’t impact you directly it’s a lot easier to put them out of your mind and go about your daily life. Right now, that’s the way I feel about the economic crisis. It's not affecting me.
Look at some the things that have happened this year:
Gas prices have risen. I only drive my car a few times a week. Unless I’m going to Richmond to visit my family, the local trips I take are within a 10-mile radius of where I live.
Food costs more. I only buy food for myself, so I haven't noticed a huge difference.
A lot of people have lost their jobs. I may not have the career of my dreams, but my job security doesn't appear to be in danger.
Working multiple jobs to make ends meet. I do computer-based work in addition to my regular job, but I did that before the economic downturn and at this point it’s just extra money.
Home foreclosures. I don't own my own home.
Retirement accounts hit. The downturn in the stock market means a lot of people have lost a lot of money and may have to work longer before they can retire. But I’m still in my 20s. I contribute to my retirement account, but it seems so far off that I don’t worry about what’s currently happening with it.
It’s not that I don’t feel bad for the people who have been affected by these things. Of course I feel bad. I realize these scenarios are hitting a lot of people harder than they’re hitting me.
I know I’m not the only one who’s taking a “wait and see” approach. When I talk to my friends, they're not discussing these things. In the blogs I read, if someone does happen to mention the economy, or money being tight, it’s most likely a question of “I wonder if anything really bad is going to happen in the future?”
If I stop to think about it, I do wonder if what’s going on right now will have long-term consequences. The questions I have are the unanswerable ones. How bad will it get? Will my living standards change? If I ignore it, will it continue to not affect me?
Rather than looking for a new job, some people are staying with their current jobs because they have to do what seems safe. As Brett McKenzie says, I Worked My Butt off in School and all I Got was this Crappy Economy.
[T]hanks to a host of issues beyond our control, we are stuck. Because in this crap economy, you'd have to be flat out, shave-your-head-bald bonkers to walk away from a steady paycheck, health insurance, and the ability to afford a bottle of wine [...]
Can the generation that mastered the text message, Facebook, camera phones, and YouTube really be expected to stay in one place for longer than 19 months or else sacrifice our high standards of living? As far as this Millennial is concerned, I don't have a choice. I mean, the day I got my first real paycheck, I climbed up on the milk crate that served as our kitchen table and declared to my roommates, "With God as my witness, I'll never eat Ramen again!" That is a promise I intend to keep. Something about the shiny silver packet with the words "shrimp flavor" printed on it truly frightens me.
Christa in New York has good advice: don't quit your job if you don't have another one to go to.
If you're quitting your job with nothing else to go to, you need to reconsider immediately. And change your mind -- do no leave your job without another place to go. There will likely be nothing for you to go to. Now, I do think you should be networking and watching out for new employment opportunities that sound interesting. Actually, I think you should ALWAYS do this, even if you are 100% in love with your job. You need to cover your bases and in this day and age, getting a job interview (and probably getting your dream job or even just your next job)
