Where's the Depression/Recession?

A month ago, when all the news was about financial meltdown, we went to the Bay Street shopping center in Emeryville. Uniformed security guards were managing the overflowing automobile traffic. The streets were jammed with pedestrians. When we went in the Apple Store, we could hardly move among the crowd of customers.

Yesterday, we went to dinner at Gary Danko, one of the most expensive restaurants in San Francisco. It was completely booked - remarkable for a Tuesday evening. The crowd was noisy, obviously enjoying themselves, and spending freely.

This is the season that I prepare tax returns for seniors and middle income class people in an AARP program. I have done this for several years and this year is different. The seniors are scared. They are worried about whether the banks and brokerages holding their money will fail. They are seeking investment advice and reassurance. The middle class taxpayers are hanging on by their fingernails and worried about losing their job. Neither the retired nor the workers have any rainy day funds left to handle an emergency.

The contrast between the high spenders and the ordinary people has never been more marked. I feel as if I am living in a novel about the prelude to the French revolution. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."