A Sign of the Times

Once again temperate weather has returned to the South. Not so with the economy. It seems that some things are better since the recession's worst days, but we still have a long way to go.

My husband and I had gone to the bank to make a deposit, the post office to drop our Netfilx movies in the mail, and then on to lunch. Our first stop for lunch was at Fazolis, but they didn't have a lunch special. My husband decided he wanted to go to Olive Garden for their soup, salad, and bread sticks instead. So we left Fazolis and headed to the Olive Garden.

As we came in the door an older woman, who looked to be retirement age, greeted us. We had to wait a few minutes for a table and when we were seated our waiter approached. He was a gentleman that was probably in his 50s with graying hair and beard. He was extremely pleasant and funny.

After he took our order, we started to guess why he might be working at Olive Garden as a waiter because he didn't seem the type. Other times that we had been in Olive Garden the wait staff had always seemed much younger. They always seemed to be about college age and many times you see young mothers-to-be. We started to speculate that this might also have been a job that he had done when he was of college age.

When our meal was almost over we asked the man if he had worked at the restaurant for long. He replied that he had only been working at Olive Garden for about a month and that he had been working in insurance previously. My husband asked him if he had waited tables in college and the man said that he had.

He carried our dishes away and then returned with the bill a few minutes later. At this time he told us that he had been selling Medicare Advantage plans and we all know that you probably couldn't sell an Advantage plan now if you gave it away. The point is if you look around closely you will see people that are now working jobs that are older. People who you would not expect to be in jobs like waiting tables and restaurant hostesses. They are happy to be working regardless of what their friends my say. The man said that when he told some of his friends what he had been doing, they wanted to know if he was serious. No job is beneath you if you need to pay the bills. He said it made him think that his friends probably thought they were better than the people who do the more menial jobs in this country.

This recession is teaching some hard lessons not only to older people, but also to young people. Statistics show that people are saving more money and using less credit. With jobs being so competitive young people will need to develop better work ethics. When times get better let's not forget the lessons we have learned. Let's hope and pray that our economy returns to the same vigor that it has enjoyed in the past.