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Our current state of the economy has reared its ugly head throughout my daily course of activities. Signs are present at my place of employment, and in the neighborhood my family and I reside in. It is also apparent whenever we eat out, or engage in any leisure activities; which has become far less frequent over the past year.

As a professor at a private career college, our admissions department has acknowledged a steady increase in the number of student applications, because these people are losing their jobs, and have to learn a new profession. Many of these applicants are so financially strapped, however, that they can't even come up with the required fifty dollar application fee. I receive daily complaints from students who have to miss classes because they don't have enough money to put gasoline in their cars.

In the South Florida neighborhood we live in, we pass signs of homes being foreclosed. A neighbor had to give up her new car because she could no longer afford the payments. I have noticed more homeowners holding garage sales than in the past. There are homes that still display damage from the time Hurricane Wilma hit us nearly four years ago. My neighbors don't complain about not receiving Christmas bonuses as they did in the past, because they are grateful for just being employed. Most of us have had to terminate our newspaper and magazine subscriptions. We have been receiving an increased number of telephone solicitations from small businesses advertising specials on services ranging from carpet cleaning to closet organizing. More of us are hoping our televisions, home computers, and major appliances give us an extra year of service, because we can't afford to replace them.

Some of our favorite local restaurants are no longer in business. The local strip malls and shopping centers have more than their usual vacant store fronts. Some of the larger supermarket chains have been closing stores because people-myself included-are doing more of our grocery shopping at Super Wal Mart. An empty store stands which was a Circuit City until three months ago. Local car dealerships have lots full of new cars, with few customers seen browsing the new models.

Banks are not lending money to small business owners. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to buy a new home or car. The signs of today's economy are all around me; from the time I get in my car to drive to work, until I arrive back home at the end of a long day.

Learn more about this author, Leslie Schwab.
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