Jesus stubble-chinned Christ, people. The times, they are a-scary. Starbucks is closing more stores, sending 6000 mocha-slingers packing, and laying off 700 other folks as well. This comes on top of announced layoffs by Boeing and AOL and Microsoft and Caterpillar and half the other fucking companies still limping along in this country and the goddamn Postal Service, for God's sake.
Now, on one hand, I don't feel too sorry for Starbucks. I've thought for a long time that a business plan based on infinite expansion is basically doomed. And I certainly don't need access to a Starbucks every other block.
But if every goddamn business in the country fails except the occasional pawn shop, if everybody finds themselves unemployed, if all the service industry jobs are dominoed out of existence, the country is well and truly fucked, 'cause we don't have a safety position.
Ye gods, this is frightening. I need to go hunt down a venti chai latte to calm my jangled nerves.
